


Brainless Endeavors

by sweetcandy13



Category: South Park
Genre: Cheating, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends With Benefits, Friendship/Love, High School, Idiots in Love, Love Triangles, Mild Language, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Teen Romance, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2019-07-02 22:54:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 63,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15806202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetcandy13/pseuds/sweetcandy13
Summary: You made a decision.You both made the decision.A stupid decision that made you feel happy and helped him relieve his stress.But how long can you two keep this up? And how far will it go before someone gets hurt?And what'll happen when someone else gets involved, wanting to pull you away from this dumb choice you have made?





	1. |Prologue|

**"Friends with benefits...?"**

"Friends with benefits."

He didn't even hesitate as the words left his mouth. He stared at you with those alluring blue eyes of his. But something about them were different today.

There was something you had never seen before. His eyes had always held this sort of innocence when he would look at you.

Untainted, sweet, and loving.

But now... Now they were different.

And it made your heart rate quicken, your throat was dry, and you couldn't stop your fingers from fiddling with the hem of your jacket.

His eyes now held a strong desire for you.

And you loved it. You loved it and you wanted it...

**You already knew what your answer was, before the words even left your mouth...**


	2. |Stan and Wendy|

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Originally this chapter was going to be longer but I decided to break it apart and make the rest another chapter. I sometimes tend to get carried away and end up making really long chapters, I'll try not to do that so you readers won't get bored. Anyway, enjoy!**

**~1 Month Earlier~**

You heard your name being called by a familiar voice and you turned around to see him waving and rushing your direction. You smiled as you waved. "Hey, Stan."

Ah, Stanley Marsh. Your closest friend, hell, your best friend in the entire town of South Park! You haven't known him as long as his other three friends – since you met in sixth grade – but you became friends ever since working on a school project together and got to know each other through that time you spent together. As time went on, you have become just as close.

"I was wondering if you wanna come and play with the guys and me. We're heading over to Cartman's house."

"Of course!" you nodded with a grin. You were subpar when it came to playing video games but as a spectator it was always enjoyable seeing them play. Especially seeing how sometimes Cartman would try and make up reasons for why he loses.

But more importantly, you enjoyed having the chance to spend more time with Stan. You both made your way out of the school building together. "The guys went ahead?" you asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. I told them we'll meet them up there," he replied as he slipped his hands in the pockets of his dark blue jeans. He wasn't the flashiest of students and mainly wore simple and down-to-earth outfits but... somehow Stan always found a way to look attractive!

The way his beautiful raven strands just seemed to flow perfectly and his sapphire-colored eyes were mesmerizing. You loved his eyes. They always had a sort of shine that pulled you in. Then again, perhaps that was because you had feelings for him.

You only discovered your feelings for Stan two years ago, during your freshman year.

In the beginning you kept trying to convince yourself that it is only a simple crush that it will eventually go away and once that happens you will see him as the best friend you always admired.

But no.

It has never happened. The more you spent time with him, the deeper your feelings for him got. You could honestly say that... you were head-over-heels for the guy!

"...hey!" You blinked a couple of times as you heard his voice and looked over at him, noticing he has stopped walking and is now stood in front of you, a hand on your shoulder. "You ok?" His eyes were filled with concern and you smiled a little bit as you nodded.

"Sorry, I was... lost in thought..." you admitted as you slipped a strand of hair behind your ear.

Stan gave a small chuckle. "Yeah, you seem to space out a lot nowadays," he remarked as you both continued walking towards his car.

It was true.

You tended to get lost in thought a lot, mainly thinking about what to do about your feelings. He opened the door for you and you thanked him as you stepped inside, slipping on your seatbelt.

You loved being in there. It had his scent. It was intoxicating.

He pulled out of the parking lot and left the school building behind.

**~Cartman Residence~**

"About time you got here!" Cartman exclaimed as he closed the door after you and Stan walked inside. Stan dropped his backpack on the floor and walked over to Kenny and Kyle on the couch. You made your way over to them and saw that the other three have already started playing.

Stan complained, "Why you started without me?!"

"You were taking forever," Kyle responded, not once taking his eyes off the screen. You went ahead and took a seat beside Kenny, whom greeted you with a smirk as he scooted closer and wrapped an arm around you.

"Hey there, beautiful."

You rolled your eyes but smiled as you lightly pushed him away. "Hey, Kenny."

The boys all enjoyed themselves playing the game and you joined in on their conversations, including playing peacemaker when they would claim someone was cheating.

The afternoon was going by great... but all good eventually comes to a halt. And that moment came when Stan's phone started ringing. He checked his screen and murmured something as he stood up and answered.

"Hey, Wendy." A smile graced his lips and you tried not to frown as you turned your focus back to the screen while he made his way towards the kitchen.

Though it was hard to since you can't help but feel jealousy creeping up.

Wendy Testaburger. Head cheerleader, smartest girl in all of South Park High, student council president, as well as captain of the girls' volleyball team.

And of course, Stan's long-time girlfriend.

By no means did you hate the girl though.

She was a nice person. Generous, almost always thinking about ways to better the school as well as the environment and always makes time to help those that need a listening ear.

It was hard to hate her, even if she seemed to be a-goody-two-shoes!

"I'm gonna get a drink, anybody want anything?" You asked. None of them answered so you took that as a no and made your way to the kitchen.

You noticed the screen door open and saw him standing outside. You opened the fridge to get a drink, knowing that you should probably leave before you were tempted to listen in to his conversation. But before you could walk away, you heard his voice.

"No, I just...!" He paused. "I'm sorry, it just slipped my mind." He sounded tired, almost irritated.

And you couldn't help yourself. You walked closer, standing by the sliding doors that lead to the backyard, being careful not to make a sound.

Stan rubbed the back of his neck as he shook his head. "Well, how am I supposed to even remember what different days are pretty much our anniversary?" He paused. You guessed that he meant because of the constant break-ups.

Stan and Wendy may be known by many as 'relationship goals' but they were also known for their on and off again relationship. Maybe that's why they were seen as the couple. Because they always found their way back to each other. No matter the size of the argument. Or the reasoning behind the break-up.

It was just what it was.

They were Stan and Wendy...

"I said I'll come over then!" Another pause. "Well then why did you even...! Fine, whatever, man. See you tomorrow then."

A sigh escaped him and he turned around before you're even able to move from your place. "Um..." His eyes widened in surprise as he murmured your name and you shifted uncomfortably from one leg to the other. "You... heard that, huh?"

"I wasn't trying to. I just came to the kitchen for a drink," you stated. And it's not like you were lying. You really did come to the kitchen for that.

Stan shook his head. "It's fine." He slipped his hands in his pockets and gestures with his head. "Come. Keep me company. I don't really wanna deal with the guys right now."

You placed the soda on the counter nearby and made your way to your tall friend. You both stared at nothing in particular as your gazes set on the sky. "So..." You began. "Relationship troubles, huh."

Stan sighed. "I guess I forgot our anniversary. Again. I don't know if she means when we first got together or when we got together again not long ago. I really lost track." He gave a sheepish grin as he ran a hand through his black strands.

"Mm." You had no idea what to say. You didn't see why Wendy was so angry. Anybody could make that mistake, right? After all, it was also her fault this mess happened. You shook your head. It wasn't fair to think that way. Of course you would be biased.

"'So... you're leaving?" you asked, a part of you hoping he wasn't.

He shrugged. "She said not to bother. I don't know. If I go she might just shut the door on my face. If I don't go, she'll be mad at me the following day. The only question is, which the safest route to take is." he said with a humorless laugh.

You hated seeing him so down. A small idea popped in your mind as you walked closer to him. "Mm? What are you...?" He stopped when he recognized what it was you were doing as you pulled his jacket open and managed to squeeze yourself beside him, the jacket wrapped a bit around your shoulder along with his arm.

You leaned against him, listening to his beating heart and smiled. It was a gesture you two used to do when you were younger. Whenever Stan or you were upset, you would find yourself wrapped not only in Stan's arms, but in his jackets and sweaters as well.

"Heh. I didn't think you remembered this," he remarked.

It's true that as you both got older you both stopped doing this. But it was something that you always cherished and it made you even happier that Stan remembered as well.

You close your eyes, enjoying that scent that belonged to him alone. "Wanna head back inside now?" you asked.

He shook his head. "Nah. Let's just stay like this for a few more minutes..."

**###**

The following day as you made your way down the hallway and towards your locker, you couldn't stop thinking about the time you got to spend with your best friend. After you both talked a bit in Cartman's backyard, he had offered to take you home. You both talked the entire ride and were upset when you had arrived at your destination.

It had felt too short.

"Wanna come inside?" you asked with a small smile. "We can watch a movie."

He had accepted. And you both spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies while eating popcorn. Just like when you both were younger and sometimes Stan hadn't felt like dealing with his friends, he would always go to you.

Always to you.

It made you feel special.

Perhaps... there was a chance that...

"You could've at least called!"

You looked over at the feminine tone that clearly belonged to Wendy. She was nowhere in sight. You closed your locker and walked a bit to see the classroom close by and noticed the door opened. You moved close enough to listen, but were careful not to be seen. You easily recognized Stan standing before her.

Were they fighting again?

"I know, I'm sorry," he apologized.

Wendy flicked her hair a bit and crossed her arms. "I'm not sure why I'm trying if you're not even going to bother remembering something so simple. I thought you said you were going to try harder in this relationship from now on. Were you lying when you said that?"

"No. Of course not."

"Then?"

"Um, I don't know what you want me to say. It just slipped my mind. I'm sorry." Wendy gave a small pout and looked away for a moment. You were about to go inside but stopped when you saw Stan took out something.

A small box.

"Mm?" Wendy looked at it.

"I'm sorry I forgot about yesterday."

From where you stood, you couldn't really see what it was the Stan had bought her, but it certainly was something to make Wendy's expression soften.

"Stan. They're so pretty!"

"So, am I forgiven?"

She looked up at him and arched a brow, but then smiled. "Not entirely. But it's a start." With that said, Wendy walked closer to him and leaned up to kiss him.

You pulled yourself away from the scene, not wanting to see any of that. There was no reason for you to feel heartbroken. Stan wasn't yours. But even remembering that truth didn't help ease the obvious pain you felt at that moment.

You heard chattering and knew that the first bell would ring any moment since students were starting to walk towards their lockers.

With a now bitter mood, you made your way towards your first period lesson.


	3. |Feelings|

**"Hey! Hellooooo!"**

You blinked and shook her head to clear your mind and turned to the nuisance that had invaded your personal space and stared at you with his big round brown eyes.

"'What?" you asked, slightly annoyed.

The eight-year-old boy rolled his eyes at your attitude. "Don't you remember mom's coming home late today?"

"And?"

"I'm hungry, duh!" He crossed his arms and pouted.

You sighed as you pressed the screen of your iPad to pause the video you had been watching – though you had not been paying attention since you mind was elsewhere – and placed it down on the bed as you got up. "I guess we can order a pizza. Mom did left money."

You made your way to the kitchen, your little runt of a brother followed, excitement evident on his expression. You weren't sure if it was because he was about to eat soon or if because you decided on pizza instead of cooking.

You placed your usual order and hung the phone. "Well, it'll be a couple of minutes before it gets here," you told him

"What's your problem anyway?"

You turned around and opened the fridge to make sure you had something to drink. "What're you talking about?"

"You're a lot moodier than usual these past days," he replied as he sat on the chair. Luke was pretty observant for someone his age. One of the things you really hated about him. How was an eight year old this sharp anyway?!

The past few weeks Stan has mostly been hanging out with Wendy and hardly with you or the guys. Obviously he was trying to make it up to her for forgetting their anniversary. The guys would state how whipped he was and he would just throw an insult their way.

That's not to say he stopped hanging out with you guys altogether. But none of that bothered you; after all, they were a couple so it was natural to hang out with each other.

The thing that did bug you was that Stan seemed to be stressed. He looked so worn out, like he hardly was enjoying himself anymore. It was almost like he had just given up in some way.

It was rather heartbreaking. You missed the smiles Stan used to give.

"...-hey!" You looked over to your little brother and blinked a couple of times. "See, that's what I mean. You space out a lot more often than usual!"

You shook your head, not really wanting to explain the complicated mess that was your feelings right now. Especially to an eight-year-old! "Come on, let's go watch a movie."

"Ooh! Let's watch Guardians of the Galaxy!"

Normally you both would argue over what to watch, but this time you just decided to go along with it.

After a while, the doorbell rang. You had not even been paying attention to the movie so you didn't bother to pause it as you stood up and walked over to the door.

You opened it and were greeted with a familiar sight. "Hey," you greeted.

Stan grinned. The first genuine smile you had seen in quite a long while. It made you smile as well. "Hey, it's been a while, huh?"

"Sure has!" Luke answered instead as he walked up to the both of you. With his free hand, Stan and Luke fist-bumped.

"'sup little man?" Stan looked at you. "Where you want me to put this?"

You blinked. "Oh, no, it's alright! I can take it!"

He gave a small laugh. "It's no problem," he assured as he stepped inside. You closed the door and led him to the kitchen, placing the food on the counter. You went ahead and grabbed the money that was in one of the drawers and handed it to him.

"Shame you can't join us," you stated. Stan slipped the money in a small bag and slipped it in his jacket's pocket. He never counted it when it involved you or your family. "I thought today was your day off," you added, curiosity was evident across your face.

Stan scratched the back of his neck. "Someone called in sick, so I had to fill in for them." He shrugged. "I didn't mind. I wasn't really doing anything today." He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, clearly hiding something.

"Um, I see," you said. You already kind of suspected why he didn't mind filling in today. But you didn't wish to bring up bad situations. You wanted him to be in a good mood. Or... at least to be less stressed than the last couple of weeks.

"You going to the game tomorrow?" Stan asked, obviously wanted to change the subject.

You nodded. "Of course! No way am I missing South Park High kicking ass!" you promised with enthusiasm. You placed a hand on your hip. "Thanks to their star player, of course."

Stan grinned, flattered by your words. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye Luke." You accompanied him towards the door and waved as he stepped into his car and drove off. You closed the door and locked it, making your way to the kitchen afterward to eat.

"Oh, barf," Luke commented and took another bite of his pizza slice.

You gave him a curious look. "What?"

"You two were this close to making out." His fingertips were really close to touching. "Yuck!"

A blush immediately crept across your face. "D-Don't be dumb! Stan and I are just friends!" You crossed your arms. "Besides, he has a girlfriend already."

He shrugged and took another bite of his slice. "I just call it like I see it."

"Ugh! No more TV for you if you keep sticking your nose into my business!" You served yourself your food and tried your best to steady your beating heart from your brother's comment.

**###**

That. Was. A. Mess.

South Park High lost. They didn't score at all. Seemed as if the team didn't worked well together today. The crowd had been silent for a while and then began murmuring, unable to believe that their team lost. The cheerleaders weren't peppy nor did they hide the disappointment they clearly felt as they made their way to the school building to change. You made your way towards the school building as well, hoping to see your friends and see what you could do to cheer them up.

You saw most of the football players and cheerleaders were already leaving and caught sight of Kyle. You ran up to him and managed to reach the dispirited young man. "Kyle." You both were quiet for a moment and you decided to break the silence. "Rough night. Sorry about the game."

"Yeah, not our greatest moment, that's for sure."

You nodded in agreement. "How's Stan? He was rather excited yesterday about it."

Kyle sighed. "He's not taking it so well. Then again, some of our teammates do place the blame on him." Another few seconds of silence. "I... honestly don't blame them."

"Huh?"

"His head wasn't in the game! He just seemed to be screwing around and got in the way of the other players!"

You hated to admit it, but it did look like that was the case. You gave Kyle a gentle pat on the shoulder and gave him a friendly smile. "Hey, there's always next time. We'll show them South Park High doesn't go down easily!"

Kyle smiled. "Yeah, well, we can only hope right now. You need a ride home?"

You shook your head. "I'm gonna go check on Stan. I'll just get a ride with him."

"Alright. See you later." You waved goodbye to each other as Kyle made his way to the parking lot. You walked into the school building and headed towards the locker room. You knocked on the door. When there was no answer you decided to go inside and could only pray that anybody that was inside was decent.

It didn't take long to find Stan. He was sitting on one of the benches, elbows on his legs, head hung low, and face buried in his palms. You walked closer and stood before him. You reached over and gently stroke his black hair.

This gesture made him look up. You were about to speak but gave out a soft squeak when you were instantly pulled towards him, his arms around your waist and his face against your abdomen. Your cheeks reddened and eyes widened at his gesture.

"So sorry you had to see that horrible, horrible game."

Why was he apologizing? It's not like he did it on purpose.

You gently stroke his black hair. "Hey, everyone has a bad day." You shrugged. "Yours just happened to be during the game...."

Stan gave out a snort. "Thanks, that makes me feel way better." A small tone of sarcasm was obvious in his voice.

"Sorry," you apologized. You felt him shake his head. "Stan, don't feel like crap. There'll be other games, other chances to show them just how great this school's team is! But we won't be able to if our star player is stuck sulking around!"

The football player slowly pulled his face away from your body and looked up at you; his arms still clung to you. You moved your hands from his hair to his face and smiled at him. "Cheer up," you added.

A smile formed on his lips. He pulled his hands away from you and grabbed his duffel bag and stood up. He slung the bag over his shoulder. "You need a ride home?"

"You don't mind?"

He shook his head. "Of course not."

A sudden thought hit you, one you couldn't believe you hadn't even thought about earlier. "Wendy won't mind?"

"Huh? Why should she?" Stan asked, his head slightly tilted to the side. You shrugged, not sure how to answer that. "Besides, she's getting a ride with Bebe," he added.

"Oh." You wondered if she had been partly responsible for Stan's behavior earlier. You didn't bring it up, not wanting to look nosey. You smiled at him and nodded.

You walked side by side, in silence, exiting the building and headed towards the parking lot. He opened the passenger door for you and once you were inside he closed the door and went to the driver's side. He slipped the bag to the backseat and the closed his door once he was inside and buckled up.

You looked at him when you heard your name. "Yeah?"

He grinned. "Thanks."

"Hee-hee. Anything for my friend..."

He pulled out onto the street and drove off.

**~Timeskip~**

You quickly ran down the halls of the school, hoping to reach your locker in time before the first bell rang. You had forgotten to set your alarm last night. You flung any books you didn't need and shoved the ones you needed in your bag before closing the locker shut and made sure to lock it.

Lucky for you, the bell had no rung as you quickly made your way to your first period classroom. You placed a hand on the doorframe and tried catching your breath for a moment. You looked up to see some students at the front, almost all of their attentions were on the same thing. Instantly your eyes shifted over to what they were staring it.

The boys all seemed to be talking to Stan. You walked a bit closer, a bit curious to what they were saying.

"I know already," Stan spoke. "It won't happen again."

"It better not. That was humiliating," Clyde remarked.

"I'm standing by my statement. You should be..." The boy that had been talking took notice of you. You flinched a bit at being caught eavesdropping. He slipped his hands into his pockets. "Whatever, man." He walked over to his desk and sat down. The other boys didn't say a word and simply went to take their seats.

You walked over to Stan. "What was that about?"

"Just a little pep talk from the guys," he said. "You know how it is."

"That didn't look like a..." You were rudely interrupted by the sound of the bell and the teacher walked in just in time as well. You walked over to your desk and took a seat.

The teacher cleared his throat. "Alright class, listen up because this is important! Today, we will be starting on a project." The class groaned. "You'll be working in teams of two..." The class perked up. "...that I will select." Another groan escaped the students.

"This project will focus on your creative writing and thinking. You will each receive a word and I want you and your partner to think what the word means to you on a personal level. But! Before you think you can just write some gibberish and be done with it..." The teacher glared at a certain husky brunet before he continued. "...You are also required to ask a total of five different people what the word means to them as well. You may interview your fellow classmates or teachers, family, or strangers as well. The minimum requirement is, as I said, five people. But you may go to a maximum of ten if you wish," he explained as he walked over to his desk to grab a stack of papers.

"You have until near the end of the semester to finish this, so be as creative as you want with this project. It will be a major part of your grade!"Some students murmured in disbelief and others complained.

You bit your bottom lip. What worried you more was who was going to be your partner. God forbid you end up with someone like Cartman! He would only end up lazing about as you did all the work! You looked over at Wendy. You hoped not to get her either. It would be awkward for you and you never really knew how to act around the girl since coming to terms about your own feelings toward Stan. The last thing you needed was to be stuck with his girlfriend for a long period of time.

"You two will be partners," the teacher began pairing people up as he handed the papers to the duos. As the teacher kept going you continued to wonder about the project. What word will you get? And what if it was something that didn't personally affect you? Do words really mean anything to people? At least, in a sense where they think hard about it? It seemed a bit... too simple for a final project.

You see a paper being placed on your desk. "You and Stan will be partners," the teacher spoke and moved on to the next ones. You looked beside you, at Stan. He smiled. "Looks like we'll be spending a lot of time together, partner."

A giggle escaped your lips as you said, "Yep! Looking forward to working with you again." You looked at the paper to see the word written in neat script on the top beside the typed word 'Subject'.

**It read, Friendship.**


	4. |Proposition|

**Stan looked at you and blinked curiously. "Huh?"**

"Come on, this should be easy for you," you stated with a small smile.

He arched a brow. "And why's that?"

You scoffed as you crossed your arms. "Come on. You're like one of the most popular boys in the school. Quarterback star player, good looks, charismatic..."

"You think I'm good looking?"

Your looked over at him and frowned. "That's what you're focusing on?" He gives a playful laugh as a small blush crept across your face. "A-Anyway! You're also surrounded by people most of the time."

"Eh, doesn't mean they're all friends," he remarked.

"Mm, you make a good point." You tapped your pencil on the table. You both went to the school library to work on your project for a while before Stan has to head to football practice. "So, what does the word mean to you?" You repeated your question from earlier.

Stan seemed to ponder the question. "Well, I guess it means having people that you get along with?"

"Like Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman?"

Stan scrunched his nose for a moment. "Cartman... honestly I don't even know what to consider him. Kenny is a friend and Kyle's my best friend..." He looked over at you and smiled. "So are you."

"Awww, so sweet." You giggled. "But sweet talking won't distract me from our project."

"Worth a try," Stan joked. But then his expression changed to one of deep thought. "I don't know... Man, this is a lot harder than I thought."

A moment of silence passed as you both tried to think about the word and what it means to you. Not just by definition, but personally.

"Ok, how about we interview other people about it first? Maybe their answers will help us find our own," you suggested.

"I think that's a good idea." He noticed the time on his phone. "Sorry, I gotta go now. But how about I meet up with you at your place later and we can work on it some more?"

"Sure. You better not forget."

He finished packing his stuff and flashed you a grin. "Never do." He waved goodbye and headed off. You started packing up as well when you heard the voice of Wendy coming not far from your table.

"Eric for the last time, I'm not going to let you just waltz off and let me do this project alone. We either get an A together or I'll break every bone in that fat body of yours," she threatened.

You couldn't help a short and soft laugh, but the duo faced you and you slightly blushed in embarrassment as you waved to them. "I... I wasn't eavesdropping," you assured.

Wendy smiled. "Hey, perfect timing, dearie," she spoke in a sweet tone as she walked over to you. As she now stood closer, you noticed the notebook in her hands and blinked. "You can be the first one we interview. Heh."

You shrugged. "'kay, but that means I get to interview you."

"Deal." She paused for a moment. "Hey, where's Stan? Isn't he your partner for this project?"

"Yeah, but he has football practice right now," you replied.

"Oh, right. The coach is making them work harder because of the disaster of a game..." She shook her head.

You nodded. "So, um," you began as you fidgeted with the hem of your jacket. "What's your topic?"

"Love," Wendy answered.

Love? You couldn't help but think that topic would clearly be simple for her and Stan to discuss. You shook that thought away and focused on what the word meant for you.

Though in a way it was impossible to shake it off completely. Since Stan was the subject of your affection and it made your heart race.

"So, tell us..." Wendy began as she clicked her pen and was ready for you to speak. "...what does love mean to you personally?"

"Um..."

A soft ring interrupted your thoughts and you searched into your jacket's pockets and fished out your phone to see a message from your mother. "Give me a moment," you said and checked it.

**= Hey sweetie, sorry for the late notice, but can you please pick up your brother from soccer practice before heading home? Stuck at work right now. =**

You texted back to let her know you saw her message and will be doing so. You slipped your phone back into your pocket and looked at the duo before you. "Sorry. Gotta pick up my brother from the Community Center."

"Oh. Well, no problem. We can pick up another day," Wendy remarked with a friendly smile. "Come on, Eric. We're not stopping until we at least interview 3 people." She walked ahead.

Cartman groaned. "Jesus. Fine! But this bitch counts as the first one," he complained as he followed her. You rolled your eyes, glad that you weren't his partner for this project.

**###**

You spotted Luke as the children did the drills.

He was pretty good. You couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride at your little brother and couldn't hold back the small smile.

The coach blew his whistle, signaling the end of practice and the kids all ran up to him. He said some words of encouragement and then dismissed them.

Luke spotted you as he grabbed his bag and ran up to you. "'sup shortie?" you asked.

"Mom's working late again?"

You nodded. "Looks like I'll be cooking dinner today."

"Great," he said with a hint of sarcasm and you pouted.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

You both headed out of the building and started heading for home. "When are you gonna get a car? Sheesh, I swear everyone in your school drives already," he whined.

You rolled your eyes. "You know right now Mom can't afford another car. And right now she needs it more than me."

"Yeah, I know." His tone changed and you looked over to see he was staring at the floor. You gently ruffled his hair and smiled when he looked at you.

"Cheer up. Next time I have to pick you up, I'll bring my bike so we don't have to walk."

His scoffed. "No way. That thing is a deathtrap when it comes to you. I rather walk," he joked and you playfully smacked him in the back of the head, but all he did was laugh.

**###**

"I don't know!"

"Come on Luke! Just say what it means to you personally. No pressure," you pressed.

Your little brother pouted as his gaze shifted between you and Stan. He crossed his arms. "Really? Neither of you can explain what it means to either of you so you're using a fourth grader's opinion?"

You and Stan exchanged a look and gave nervous smiles. "Come on squirt," Stan spoke. "Don't see it that way. "It's more like this, we appreciate your view as well because the way older people see it is completely different than the way children see it! Therefore, getting your point of view is necessary to compare the views of a teen and adult."

Luke arched a brow and looked over at you for a moment. "He's good."

You giggled. "Yep! So glad he's my partner."

He sighed and sat back down on the sofa. "Fine! I'll answer your questions. But you better speed it up, I don't wanna miss any of my cartoons."

**~Later, Your Room~**

You went through the answers in your notebook. "I can't believe a fucking eight year old can answer these with ease and we're still trying to figure out the question itself."

Stan chuckled. "Well, he's a kid. He only made it harder on us earlier 'cause he wanted us to stop bugging him."

You exhaled as you crossed your arms. "Well, we only got lucky thanks to your charm," you remarked and grinned. "Thanks for that, Marsh."

"It's a gift." He pretended to flip imaginary long locks like some sort of diva and you both couldn't help but laugh. As your laughter subsided you stared at him and couldn't help the small blush that crept across your face.

This Stan. This is the Stan you missed. Happy, playful, and energetic.

Your Stan.

The Stan that would joke around with his friends, but throw the occasional insult when he was put on the spot. Mostly towards and by Cartman. But it was all in good fun.

You wanted to keep him smiling. You promised yourself that every chance you got, you would make sure to make him smile.

**###**

For the past weeks, almost about a month, you and Stan were inseparable. It almost felt like when you were younger again.

It felt good. It felt right.

Everybody was busy with their projects, so nobody seemed to really have time to hang around.

_Note to self! Suggest a small party to celebrate!_

You were interviewed by Wendy and Cartman eventually and answered your questions the best - and as fast - as you could without sounding like you were hiding something.

It seemed to work at the time.

Though as time went by, you couldn't help but notice the small glances that Wendy would shoot your way. Almost as if you bugged her in some way. You didn't understood why, but you didn't bother trying to figure it out since you were too busy focusing on your own project and enjoying your time with Stan.

One afternoon you and him were discussing your next course of action for your project and deciding how to do your presentation.

"I mean, visuals are as important, after all," you remarked as you put some books away in your locker and closed it. "Maybe we could have like a huge canvas and separate them by category of children, teens, and adults?"

Stan smiled. "I think that sounds good. Maybe we could use different colored cards as well for all of them to make it look nicer."

"I like the sound of that! Wanna meet later at my place to..."

"Stan!"

Oh great. You tried your best not to have an annoyed look on your face as Wendy walked towards the both of you.

"Hey Wendy," he greeted with a smile.

"Um, so I guess I'll see you later, Stan?" you asked as you slipped your backpack on.

"Later? Stan, aren't you forgetting something?" Wendy questioned as she looked at him. He had a look of confusion as he shook his head, causing the black-haired girl to cross her arms. "You and I have a date tonight!"

Stan looked as if he had remembered something he had forgotten for years as he scratched the back of his neck. "O-Oh. Sorry, babe, but I promised..."

"Yeah and you promised me as well!" Wendy scolded. You started feeling awkward standing there as the couple argued. In a way it was your fault for bringing it up. But then again, it's not like you even knew they had plans. Stan hadn't told you anything when you asked if he was free to work on homework afterschool.

"Stan! You said you were going to try better if I gave you another chance," she whined.

He sighed as he frowned. "Can we go somewhere private?"

"No, it's ok. I was leaving anyway," you spoke up. "Um, just message me if you're showing up or not, ok dude."

"No!" You were stopped by Stan gripping your wrist. He had a serious look in his eyes as he stared at Wendy. You couldn't help but want to get away from the awkwardness that was this situation. "Look, Wendy, this is a project we have to work on, it's not like I'm purposely avoiding you."

"I get that, Stan. What I don't understand is why you just can't see it from my point of view! I'm also working on the same kind of project, but I still make time for everything else and you!" she pointed out.

"Um... maybe I should..."

Stan interrupted you. "I'm not going to risk failing my project just because you're insecure about our relationship."

That was not something wise to say. You could see the immediate anger in Wendy's eyes. "Stan..." You tried to speak up, but were once again interrupted and ignored.

"Fine! If that's what you think, then you don't have to worry about 'wasting' your time with me!" she cried out.

Stan pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wendy..."

"No! It's clear you see our relationship as a waste of time, Stan! If it's not school, it's football practice! If it's not that, it's homework! And when it's none of that, it's hanging out with those idiot friends of yours!"

That made you scowl a bit. You considered those idiots friends and didn't like the way she expressed herself about them.

"Can we just talk about this another time?" he asked. He finally took notice of how uncomfortable you were being held there and seeing as their drama unfolded before your eyes.

She glared at him. "Stan, if you even think about leaving this situation the way it is, you better forget we are even a couple..."

Stan shrugged. "Fine."

He didn't wait for her response as he turned and dragged you away from her. You were shocked at his answer as you both made your way out of the school building.

"Stan." He didn't stop as he led you towards his car and opened the door of the passenger side for you. At first you thought of not getting inside, but were afraid that maybe he would just get angry at that and drive off, so you decided to just step inside and buckled up. He closed the door and walked towards the driver seat, slamming his door shut as he started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

The both of you were quiet for the first few couple of minutes as he kept driving. "Stan..." you spoke up again. He didn't look at you, just kept his eyes on the road.

"I'm real sorry about that," he finally spoke.

You glanced over at him. "I shouldn't have kept you there. That... wasn't something you should've witnessed."

It's true. It wasn't your business after all. "Um... it's alright." What else could you say?

You didn't want to make him feel worse than he was clearly already feeling. The rest of the ride was silent as he arrived to your neighborhood and parked. Though neither of you moved nor made an attempt to get out of the car.

"Thanks, for not scolding me though," he said with a small, sad smile.

You shrugged as you gave a small smile. "I think Wendy did enough of that..." You regretted saying that and looked down. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Another moment of silence filled the car. You were about to speak but were interrupted by Stan as he softly spoke your name. You looked at him, curious. The tone in his voice was somewhat different, strange, lost in thought. "There's something I wanna ask you." He was staring at nothing in particular.

"What is it?"

He blinked as he stayed quiet for another moment. "I want you to know that this is something I'm asking of you only because you're my best friend and... there's nobody else I would even think about asking..."

You tilted your head in confusion. "What about Kyle?"

A short, humorless laugh escaped his lips. "This is something only you can do."

Something that he can't even trust his closest, bestest friend with? How serious was this?

He took in a deep breath and exhaled. "I like you."

"That's no secret," you said with a small scoff as you playfully nudged him. "I like you too, dummy!"

He shook his head. "No I mean..." He swallowed hard before he continued. "I like you as in, I have fun with you. Whenever I'm with you, I feel like my stress just melts away and I'm able to just be myself without worrying that I'll say something that'll piss you off or scold at me for some reason." He stopped for a while, as if thinking about his words carefully.

"I like that. I like our relationship. I like how I can be... myself with you."

"Stan..."

"Please, let me finish. 'Cause I know I'll end up chickening out if I don't say this now." You remained quiet and waited for him to make his point. "I guess what I'm saying is... I want us to... have a casual relationship."

Your eyes widened, surprised to hear what he had just suggested. That was definitely not something you were expecting. You gulped as you wondered if you should ask or say anything, afraid you had misunderstood or heard it wrong.

Carefully, you spoke up, "Friends with benefits...?"

"Friends with benefits."

He didn't even hesitate as the words left his mouth. He stared at you with those alluring blue eyes of his. But something about them was different today.

There was something you had never seen before. His eyes had always held this sort of innocence when he would look at you.

Untainted, sweet, and loving.

But now... Now they were different.

And it made your heart rate quickened, your throat was dry, and you couldn't stop your fingers from fiddling with the hem of your jacket.

His eyes now held a strong desire for you.

And you loved it. You loved it and you wanted it...

**You already knew what your answer was, before the words even left your mouth...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **This. Chapter. Took. Forever! I just couldn't figure out how to lead up to the whole proposition so I constantly kept changing it because I hated every single outcome that came out. >< Anyway, this was the closest I could get to it being... ok enough, I guess. So yeah. Enjoy! The next chapter I have somewhat planned so hopefully will be coming out faster than this one. ^^**


	5. |Stan and You|

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Before we start, (1) This is a lemon/smut chapter! If you are uncomfortable with that kind of stuff, I suggest you do not read this fanfic as a whole as there will be more smut in future chapters and, (2) I am not the greatest smut-writer. I have written some works that involve it, but... let's just say they're not my greatest works and most don't really have plot or purpose of a kind. So I did my best to make this one... good at the very least. And lastly, (3) a thank you to some well-written guides on how to write smut.**
> 
>  
> 
> **With all that aside, enjoy.**

**The warm water felt good against your skin. You gently ran your fingers through your hair as you massaged your scalp.**

You placed your hands over your chest; you hoped to calm your quick-paced heart, but no luck. You couldn't believe you were actually allowing this to happen. You couldn't believe you accepted this!

But... you also had not wanted for the one chance to be with him this way, to slip through your fingers.

****Flashback****

_"So what exactly is going on here?" you had asked him._

_Stan glanced curiously your way for a moment before looking back at the road. "What do you mean?"_

_You shrugged. "I've never really done this before. So I don't exactly know what's... normal for this kind of situation. I mean, is it just with me? Or... are there others? I know we're not a couple, but..."_

_Though you had accepted his proposition to only be friends with benefits, you had to also know what exactly you were getting into. Your heart trusted Stan, without hesitation. But your mind kept nagging you to ask questions._

_"...Is it exclusive? Or is it an open-kind-of-thing? Like would others be involved? 'Cause I don't really like the sound of that. I don't want to sound like I want more than what we agreed on but...!"_

_"Relax." You looked over at him again. He smiled and shook his head. "Remember what I said earlier? The only reason this thought even crossed my mind was because you're my best friend." He had reached over for your hand and laced his fingers with yours, keeping his other hand on the wheel._

_"There's nobody I could ever trust in even suggesting this to, other than you. I trust you." A smile had perched on your lips as you gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "But this does have to remain a secret. Even from the guys. Last thing I want is for Kyle to give me a lecture and Kenny trying to sleep with you."_

_You arched a brow. "It's not like I'll easily end up in his bed," you joked._

_His brows knitted together, forming a somewhat scowl as he stared at the road. "Yeah, well, I just don't like the thought of him being all over you and bugging you until you agree to. I don't want you catching whatever it is he has. Trust me, best to avoid that."_

_You rolled your eyes as you looked out the window for a moment. It was true, Kenny was known to be a playboy and he has flirted with you on a couple occasions, though you never thought he would ever attempt anything since you firmly believed he only saw you as a friend and nothing more._

_"This isn't permanent. We can end it whenever either of us wants to. No strings attached, no promises, nothing. Just two friends having fun." Yeah. You nodded in agreement as you allowed that to cement itself into your mind. You had to constantly remind yourself that it was nothing serious and it never will be. He spoke again, "You can also break it off if ever you find someone you want to be serious with."_

_That reminded you. "Um... Stan."_

_"Hm?"_

_"What exactly are you and... Wendy at this time? Are you two technically still together? Are you on a break? Are you broken up? Is this... an affair?"_

_You mentally slapped yourself for even thinking about Wendy. Why would you bring her up?! You didn't want to lose this chance, did you?!_

_"Mm. I guess you could say it's between taking a break to a break-up, if we're being honest. Tch, I ignored her after all. No way she's gonna forgive me for that." He rubbed the back of your hand with his thumb. "Is that a problem?"_

_Yeah. It was! You hated the thought of doing this when he was involved with someone. You didn't want to be the slut that broke up the supposed 'perfect relationship' that was Stan and Wendy! Though you knew it was far from perfect, it still didn't help make you feel better. But... if they were broken up, then technically this wasn't cheating._

_Right?_

_You turned to him, smiling. "No, it's fine. I just... wanted to make sure where everything stands right now..."_

****Flashback Ends****

You reached for the knob and turned off the water. You opened the shower door and grabbed the towel that Stan had given you.

It felt warm against your naked body as you wrapped it around you. The shower felt wonderful, your body felt relaxed now.

But of course, you felt yourself tensed up as you remembered that in a few seconds you will be rolling in the sheets with the one boy you had been in love with for so long.

How many times had you dreamed of this day?

How many times had you wished to be in Wendy's place?

How many nights... had you... wished he was with you at that moment?

Too many to count. And now, it would all become a reality. It was not going to be romantic as you had fantasized or even the kind of relationship you had hoped, but...

This was good enough.

Right?

You shook your head, shaking off those thoughts as you walked out of the bathroom and headed towards his room. You took a deep breath before slowly opening his door and peeked inside. Stan was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He turned when you closed the door and now stood by it. He sat up and your eyes almost popped out of their sockets as you noticed he had no shirt on.

You could feel your face heat up as your gaze shifted to the floor. You had seen him half-naked before. After all, you had P.E together! This also included having to go to the pool to learn the fundamentals of swimming and other stuff. You couldn't really remember at the moment, not that you were really trying to anyway.

"Come here," Stan remarked softly as he stretched out an arm. You took his hand and he gently pulled you towards him. You gripped the towel tightly as you took a seat beside him. "We can stop if you start feeling uncomfortable."

All you could do is nod at that moment. You both stared at each other for a moment, you were uncertain on what to do. You had never done this before! And not just the sex, the whole being in a relationship, any kind, was completely foreign to you! What were you supposed to do? Could you kiss him? Was that allowed? Or was that exclusively a girlfriend thing? You weren't sure.

Though outside you remained calm, inside you were panicking, trying to figure this whole mess out!

But you relaxed when he began to softly caress your arms. Though your heart started picking up its pace as he leaned over and his lips ghosted over yours, your breaths mingling and you ached for him to just kiss you. He didn't though. He moved away from your lips and instead his lips touched your cheek and slowly his kisses continued moving until they reached your neck. Your skin instantly prickled as your breath hitched at the feeling of his lips against your neck.

You could feel his smirk as he gave you multiple kisses. You sat very still as he kept repeating the action and all you could do was let out soft sounds. After a few seconds, your hands moved on instinct and pressed against his chest. His skin was warm and you felt him flex under your touch. He was rather well-built, no surprise there, considering he was quite the sports-type of guy.

You caressed him as you felt your whole body being pushed down on the mattress and he hovered over you. He looked at you for a moment and slowly pulled at the towel and your whole face reddened as you were completely exposed before your crush.

The look on Stan's face made you feel as if your body was heating up, you were almost certain your whole self had turned a complete shade of red.

His hands traced over your whole figure, as if he tried to memorize every single part of you. The way his fingertips gently grazed against your skin was enough to make your mind go blank. Though it could be you were feeling that way due to never having been touched before. And you couldn't hold back the small smile that formed on your lips, knowing he was the first to ever touch you this way.

A small gasp escaped your mouth as one of his hands moved to one of your breasts, massaging it. Though he didn't let the other one free of affection. His mouth encircled around your breast and you arched your body a bit, your moans became slightly louder. His other hand continued to caress your waist; slowly it traced down you hip, towards your thigh.

His tongue flicked your nipple while he very carefully and gently pinched the other one with his thumb and middle finger for a short while and then returned to massaging your breast.

One of your hands instinctively rested on his waist, while the other one moved to his hair. You stroke his black locks, enjoying the way they felt against your fingers. You bit your bottom lip as he continued working on your chest.

His hand abandoned your breast and snaked its way down your belly, heading lower, until it reached its destination.

"S-Stan..." you stuttered as his hand carefully and softly rubbed the area between your thighs. Your eyes closed tightly as you gripped on to his hair at that moment. He managed to pull himself away from your grip and looked at you. Your half-lidded eyes stared back at his beautiful blue ones. Your eyes closed shut as his hand rubbed you more and your back arched against the bed as soft moans repeatedly escaped your throat.

It felt strange in a good way. The new feelings that your body and mind were experiencing at that moment were scary, but at the same time exhilarating! The way his fingers seemed to gently caressed your entrance. Your body trembled as his fingers began to stretch you out a bit and you groaned as you hold on to his body.

Your moved instantly jolted as you cried out when you felt Stan push a finger inside of you. It wasn't slow, there was no warning. His pace was quicker than you had anticipated and before you knew what was happening, you felt something strange, you felt as if a knot in your stomach had come undone and you orgasm.

You covered your face as you felt embarrassed, not sure what to say, so you just mumbled an apology to him. With his free hand, he pulled away one of your hands and stared at you.

He let out a small laugh and you couldn't help but pout. "I-It's not funny!"

He shook his head. "I'm not... I'm not laughing at you, I swear," he said in between small laughs. "I just... I just thought it was cute how you apologized for something natural."

You turned your head to the side as your crossed your arms, feeling like the mood had now disappeared. But it was clear that Stan didn't feel the same as his body pressed against yours, his lips so close to your ear as he whispered your name.

And God did that made your body flare up again as he started to kiss your neck again. He pulled away from you and smirked as he unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his jeans. He pulled out a condom from his pocket and then managed to slip out of his jeans and boxers at the same time, not bothering to see where they had even landed as he tore open the wrapper and slipped the condom on.

Your eyes lingered on the lower part of his body, staring at his hardened cock, almost as if pointing at you, his target. You reacted on impulse as your legs closed at the sight of him. Though your body and heart clearly wanted this, a part of your brain kept calling you stupid for allowing this to go this far.

_It's not too late to turn back! You still have a chance!_

But you ignored that annoying voice as you allowed Stan to pull you closer to him, pushing your legs apart as he lined himself up to your wet entrance. His eyes met yours for a moment. For a second you thought maybe he regretted this.

But no. It wasn't that. He wanted to know if you were ready. If you weren't backing out from this. You were sure you weren't going to. You wanted this. You wanted him. You love him so much and there was no way you were going to back out now.

Your eyes shut as you felt him bury himself inside of you, stretching your walls to fit him. Your hands reached for his forearms, letting out small, soft whimpers as you tried getting used to the feeling, your body quivered at the new feeling, a mixture of pain and pleasure overwhelmed you at that moment.

A gentle hand caressed your cheek and you slowly opened your eyes a bit and looked at the boy that hovered over you. His thumb tenderly wiped the tears from one side of your face. You caressed his arm with one hand, the other roaming down his waist. It helped distract you from the pain for that moment, gasping as he started to pull out slowly and then pushed himself deeper inside of you.

Stan's hands rested beside each side of your head, he leaned closer and buried his face in the crook of your neck. It seemed like a habit in a way for him to do this. Though you were enjoying the kisses he gave you, you wished he would kiss your lips or play with your breasts again.

Before you knew it, his thrusts didn't hurt as much anymore. As soon as Stan was sure that you had gotten used to him, his thrust got faster and harder.

"S-Stan...!" You breathed out as your grip on him tightened on him. You tightened around his hardened member as his hips slammed against yours; small pants escaped the both of you as he repeated the wonderful action. That nagging voice slowly began to fade to the back of your mind, being replaced by one that was crying out for more, begging for this moment to never end. Encouraging you to not hold back the sounds you made.

And you gladly obeyed. You begged for more, your arms wrapped around his neck and you pulled him closer to you. His body felt amazing against yours and the scent of his musk overwhelmed your mind, making it go blank as you could only focus on the pleasure. Sweat trickled down your bodies as his rhythm picked up in speed.

Your fingers ran through his black hair, his hands gripped your hips tightly, holding you in place. He muttered your name in between ragged breaths as he continued to shove inside of you. You could tell he was also starting to lose himself to the pleasure.

"I... I..." It came out more as a whimper than you had hoped. "I... I don't think I can..." You knew you couldn't hold out longer, you were close. You grip on him tightened as your hips arched, meeting his rough thrusts as he sheathed himself inside of you. One of his hands ran up your stomach, to your breasts, squeezing it, his thumb playing with your nipple.

The room felt like it was spinning as you reached your limit again and with a loud moan your body jerked as you felt a spring coiling tightly and then released. Your breath was caught in your throat, but you didn't have time to relax as Stan's hips continued to pound against yours.

He was reaching that high too, they started becoming sloppy as he continued, grunting as he moved his hands to the bed, gripping the bed sheets as he reached his own orgasm, releasing into the condom. He pulled out of you and his body falls on to the mattress, his arm around you as you stared at the ceiling, waiting for the fuzzy feeling to leave your mind. You turned your head to the side and stared at Stan. Your eyes met with his and he smiled.

You smiled as well.

**###**

You grabbed your phone as you waited for Stan to finish his shower. He offered you to go first, but you were still somewhat sore and told him to go ahead. You checked to see you had two unread texts from Kyle. One asking if you wanted to hang out with him and the guys and the second one asking if you knew where Stan was since he wasn't answering his phone.

Another unread text was from your mother, asking you to please pick up some things she needed to make dinner tonight. You texted her that you'll take care of it.

"Who you texting?"

You looked up to see Stan in only a towel as he dried his hair with a smaller one. You blushed. Now that your mind had cleared a bit, you couldn't help that feeling that this was still new and strange for you. It would take a while. "My mom. She wants me to pick up some groceries."

The mattress sinks a bit as Stan took a seat and stared at you. After a few seconds of silence you looked up and swallowed hard. "W-What?"

"How do you feel?"

You held on to the sheets tightly against your chest as your face heated up again. "Good. I can honestly say it was quite the experience. One I enjoyed, a lot."

He smirked as he pushed a strand of hair behind your ear. "It was fun for me too." His attention shifted when his phone beeped and he reached for it to check who messaged him. You noticed a small scowl graced his features for a moment. Then they softened again. "Looks like the guys wanna hang out."

You nodded. "I got a message too." You were about to say something else when Stan let out a short laugh and you arched a brow. "What?"

He looked at you, a playful smirk on his lips. "Nothing, I just remembered something from earlier..."

"What?" You smiled, curious as to what he remembered.

He leaned closer to you as his hand grasped your chin and made you look at his deep ocean blue eyes, his lips ghosted over yours and you couldn't suppress the soft gasp that escaped you.

"Mm, now you see what I meant that this was something I couldn't ask of Kyle?" You recalled asking him why he couldn't trust his closest friend earlier and you felt your whole face burn in slight embarrassment at the reminder as you pulled away from his grasp and playfully nudged him away from you as he laughed.

"G-Geez Stan! D-Did you have to bring that up after what we just did?!"

He chuckled heartily. "Sorry, couldn't help it. You look so cute when you blush."

You scoffed as you hit him with his pillow and got off the bed with the bed sheets wrapped around your body. You surprisingly didn't tumble, despite your legs still feeling a bit wobbly from the sexual activity.

"If you excuse me, Marsh, time for my shower!"

"Want some help?" he teased.

**You stuck out your tongue at him and flipped him off before you left the room, giggling, and headed towards the bathroom.**


	6. |Serene|

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A somewhat filler-like chapter. This took longer cause I lost the original file when my hard drive corrupted. So had to rewrite it completely since I couldn't write it the same way as the first time. Anyway, hope you like this chapter.**

**You moved along with the beat of the song as you cleaned the living room, once in a while joining in the lyrics as well.**

"What's got you so happy?" Luke spoke, hoping to make you jump in surprise and embarrassment, but you greeted him with a bright smile as you made your way to him, took him in your arms, and danced a bit with him around the living room, despite his protests. "H-Hey! Quit it!"

You placed him on the floor and he glared at you. "I assumed you were asking 'cause you wanted to join in." A mischievous smile graced your lips as you put away some DVDs.

Luke crossed his arms. "Alright spill it."

"What?"

"Why are you so darn happy? I can't remember the last time I saw you with a big goofy smile."

"Goofy smile? I'm insulted!" You pretended to be hurt by his words, making Luke give out an exasperated sigh, but you could only giggle. "What? Can't I just be happy? Things are rather pleasant..."

It wasn't a complete lie...

You really were just happy. You admit that at first things felt a bit strange, though it was mostly due to you overthinking things again. Then again, it wasn't for no reason. Stan seemed somewhat... aloof at first.

The day after you two had sex, you and your friends all hung out together at Stan's place. Since you two couldn't on the day they had asked if you guys could. It was a normal hangout, nothing out of the ordinary, but... Stan just seemed to be ignoring you during that time.

It kind of hurt. Considering you both had agreed not to let this affect your platonic relationship. So why would he be acting so cold?

...

That is, you had believed he was avoiding you, but later that day...

****Flashback, Marsh Residence****

_You had gone to the kitchen to make some popcorn and grab some drinks for you and the guys when a pair of arms suddenly had snaked their way around your waist. You were just about ready to throw a punch, certain it was Kenny playing one of his flirtatious games, but luckily you had managed to see that it wasn't before acting on your instincts._

_A bright red dusted your cheeks as you stared at his beautiful blue eyes before he dipped his head to the crook of your neck, giving you soft kisses, making you almost let out a moan, but you bit down on your lip, holding back the sound that threatened to escape at any minute as Stan's hand caressed your sides._

_"S-Stan... The others are... right in the other room..." you whispered as he continued kissing your skin._

_He smirked and spoke softly, "Then you'll have to make sure to keep quiet." His hands had moved back to your waist, one crept its way down, to your inner thigh and separated your legs. He pressed his body against yours, his obvious bulge rubbed against your ass and you groaned as you gripped the counter, inwardly cursing him for choosing such a time to be horny._

_A gasp managed to escape your throat as you felt him nipped at your neck while he continued to rub against you, his hand cupped between your legs and gently he began to rub._

_"S-Stan..." you whimpered._

_"What the hell is taking you guys so long?!" Cartman's annoying voice was enough for Stan to pull away quickly and you exhaled, a strong feeling of frustration washed over you._

_You looked over at the black-haired boy that gave a small smile your way. "Guess we'll have to finish this afterwards," he remarked as he took a couple of sodas from the fridge and took them to the living room._

****Flashback Ends****

You ran your hand over the turtleneck that covers the somewhat faded hickey that he had left that day.

"Hey!"

You blinked and turned to face your little brother. "Um, what?"

"You sorta blanked out there," he stated.

You couldn't help the small smile as you said, "Awww! My little brother is worried about me!" You wrapped your arms around him.

"Ngh! S-Stop that! You're freaking me out!" Luke complained. You pulled away and laughed a bit as you ruffled his hair. "You're... really weird lately..."

You shrugged. "Mm, get used to it." You straightened up and returned to fixing up the living room.

**~Timeskip~**

"Most of the people answered in similar ways," Stan realized as he looked through the colored-coded papers that contained the answers you both had printed out and were now cutting them before pasting them on the large canvas.

You nodded as you read through a classmates answers. "Well, what else can be said... That's pretty much how everyone sees friendship." You carefully cut another one and placed it on a stack of blue ones.

Stan looked at you. "You know, you still haven't answered the question." Your attention shifted to him. "What does friendship mean to you."

"Um..." You blushed. "I don't think I'm the right person to be asked about that kind of stuff."

"Come on, tell me!" Stan smiled as he scooted closer. "Don't think too hard about it! Just don't think about what we did and tell me what it means to you."

You looked down at the desk, you tried putting your feelings into words, hoping not to make anything awkward. "Um... I guess, it means having someone to depend on. Someone I know I can help as well, someone that I can trust and not be afraid to share not just my dreams but insecurities with, without being judged."

It was quiet for a moment. Did you say something wrong? Oh gosh you said something wrong! You were about to speak up, but immediately went silent when Stan leaned close and his lips touched your forehead. His hands held yours as his kisses moved all over your face. But upon reaching your lips, he hadn't put pressure, only ghosted over them and then kissed your cheek again.

"You can lean on me as much as you want and as much as you need," he said softly. Your heart began to beat quicker at those words. "You know... We never got a chance to finish what we started a couple of days ago..."

Your face reddened as you swallowed hard. All you could do was nod as his kisses made your mind fuzzy. Stan stood up, pulling you along with him as he took you over to his bed, there he gave your neck some attention, even licking the faded mark he had left before and grinned when you shuddered.

Slowly he began to unbutton your blouse, never once did his lips stopped pressing against your exposed skin. Already you felt so heated that you couldn't help but cling to his brown jacket as soft moans escaped you.

Nothing else mattered for the rest of the afternoon.

**###**

You were greeted with an amazing smell of delicious home cooking as soon as you walked inside the house. You dropped your backpack by the stairs and rushed over to the kitchen.

"Mom!"

The woman by the stove turned to you and smiled. "Hey sweetie. Surprised you weren't home when we got here."

"What? Wait, I thought you were working late again. And doesn't Luke have soccer practice?"

"Cancelled," Luke remarked, not looking up from his homework.

Your mother nodded. "I asked my boss if I could leave early today and he was kind enough to let me. So I made my way to pick him up while I was at it since I was going grocery shopping."

"Oh." You gave a small smile. "I'm glad. If anyone deserves a break, it's you, mom."

The older woman lowered the heat on the stove and walked closer to you. "I know I've been dumping all my responsibilities on you because of work. And I'm really grateful that you have not once made it difficult. I owe you so much, sweetie."

"Mom... Tch, you need help. What kind of daughter would I be if I whined about something so trivial?"

"A brat," Luke replied.

"Watch it, short stuff!" You scolded and your mother only laughed a bit. A sound you certainly missed these past months. It even made Luke look over and smile.

She sighed. "Alright children, go and wash up. Dinner will be ready soon."

Luke got out of the chair, picking up his notebook and pencil. "Yay! Mom's delicious chicken casserole!" He rushed off and upstairs.

"'Sheesh, I wish he would get that excited when I do the cooking," you joked. Your mom smiled as she started placing the plates on the table. You walked over and wrapped your arms around her. She smelled so sweet. You missed her. "It's nice to have you home for dinner."

You felt her hand caress your hair as she kissed your head. "It's good to be home. Now go. I want to be able to spend the day with my two favorite children."

You giggled. "You only have two children."

"Exactly."

You sighed happily as you let her go and kissed her cheek. "Welcome home mom." With that said, you made your way upstairs to freshen up for dinner.

You couldn't remember the last time the family came together this way. Your mother asked about school for both of you.

Luke shared his grades, his extracurricular activities, and looked proud when she told him that he was doing such a wonderful job.

"Sweetie, you still hanging out with those friends of yours?" she asked you.

"Yep."

"Nuh-uh! She's been hanging out with Stan mostly," Luke butted in, to which you scowled and wanted to tell him to not be such a blabbermouth.

"Really? I can't remember the last time I saw Stan."

You made sure to stay composed. "We're working on a project. That's why we've been inseparable for the past month," you assured.

She let out a small chuckle. "I remember when you were younger, we hardly ever saw you two separate. Heh. It's nice to hear you are still friends."

Your hand rubbed your neck. You couldn't help but feel guilty for keeping the truth hidden from your mother. But it's not like it was something you could tell her as if it was something... normal. And it wouldn't be fair for Stan either. He has become a family friend and it would make you sad for him to lose the respect of your mother because of something like this that won't even last.

And more importantly, you didn't want to disappoint her.

Her soft, motherly voice made you turn to her as she spoke your name. "You alright?"

"Um... yeah. I was just... thinking about the project."

"She's been like this for a while now," Luke pointed out.

You glared at him. "Gosh! You're worse than most of the girls at my school!"

"Alright you two, settle down. Luke, respect your sister's privacy."

"Yes, mom."

"And sweetie," she gave you the sweetest, motherly look as she reached over and held your hand in hers. "If ever there is anything you need or want to talk about, don't be afraid to come to me. I will always make time for my children."

You felt a pang at your chest, guilt washing all over you, but you made sure not to let it show as you gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I know, mom. Thanks."

Aside from the guilt at the beginning, dinner that evening was wonderful. You and Luke even helped out with clearing the table and the dishes, wanting your mom to get some rest since it wasn't everyday she gets to be home early. You didn't want her to spend it doing stuff you guys could easily help with.

Afterwards, you suggested a movie night and she happily agreed. The three of you chose an old Disney movie that you could all enjoy, made some popcorn, and enjoyed the rest of the evening reminiscing about things as you enjoyed watching the movie.

**###**

You watched as the football team practiced. You were waiting for them to finish so you both could walk to his house together. You couldn't hold back the smile as you watched how better he was doing now and even cheered.

And you blushed as you pulled your scarf to cover part of your face, embarrassed for that little spectacle. You heard the whistle and you immediately made your way down the bleachers and waited for Stan as he rushed to you.

"Where's your stuff?" you asked.

"Sorry, we won't be able to walk together," he said. He sounded upset. Before you could ask, he continued, "Coach wants us to practice a little more... so... last game's situation won't repeat itself."

You shook your head. "It won't! I may not know anything about football, but you looked amazing out there. You'll crush the competition!" You grinned.

Stan laughed a bit. "Thanks."

"By the way, I wanted to ask, would you like to, maybe, come over for dinner someday?" He gave a questioning look. "Um, yesterday mom got out early so we got to have a family dinner and she told me to invite you someday, I mean, if you wanted to, that is..." You felt butterflies in your stomach.

The black-haired teen placed a hand on your shoulder, smiling. "I'd love that."

"O-Ok!" You inwardly scolded yourself for sounding too excited about it. ' _D-Dummy! Take it down a notch!_ '

"Hey!! Marsh!! Enough talking to your girlfriend and get back here!" the coach shouted, sounding annoyed.

' _G-Girlfriend?!_ ' you thought as your face reddened.

"Coming, coach!" Stan called back and faced you again. "Hey, gotta go now, but call you later so we can discuss those dinner plans."

"S-Sure," you stuttered, cursing yourself in your mind for that. He gave you one last smile before he ran back to his teammates.

At that moment you realized that Stan didn't even correct his coach about the girlfriend remark. He just... accepted it. Your heart pace quickened and you tried controlling your thoughts. It meant nothing. He probably didn't even notice it!

As you were about to walk away, you felt like someone was watching you. You looked over at the field to see a familiar pair of cobalt blue eyes staring at you. His expression unreadable, as always, but you swore he could probably turn you into ice with that cold stare of his.

"Craig!" the coach shouted and he turned away from you and headed towards his teammates. You didn't understood what that was about. You walked away from the football field with only one thought in your mind.

**It had been a long time since you stared that long at those eyes...**


	7. |Mocha-Flavored Coffee|

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Mmm, I had a completely different idea when I started this chapter, but it turned into a somewhat filler-like chapter instead. Oh well, next chapter will be moving along further. ;3**

**_"Why this?"_ ** __

_"Because, it reminded me of your eyes! Y-You don't like it? I mean I knew it was probably not the best kind of gift but...!"_

_"I love it."_

_"Y-You do?"_

_"Yeah. I'm never taking it off now."_

_"You better not!"_

**###**

You opened your eyes as you felt the sun's rays hit you. You groaned as you placed the pillow over your head, grumbling obscenities and cursing yourself for forgetting to close the curtains.

"Come on, lazy bum!" Luke shouted from outside your door. "I'm not waiting for you again if you get up late!"

Oh right. Today was one of the days your mother had to go to work earlier than usual, so you always had to make sure to be ready on time, otherwise, Luke would leave without you. And you weren't going to be held responsible for him ending up being taken by some creep.

You yawned as you stretched out your arms, rubbed your eyes and sighed.

The dream... or more like a memory. You haven't even thought about that day since... since around the time you were starting high school.

For the past couple of days, memories of your past started flooding back into your mind.

Was it because of last week? At the football field?

"Hey! Are you up?!" Luke knocked loudly on your door and you groaned.

"I'm going already!"

**###**

"Sheesh, you look like hell," Kyle remarked.

"Charming," you said sarcastically, followed by another yawn. "I didn't get much sleep." You grunted as you rested your chin on your palm, not staring at anything in particular.

Stan chuckled. "You never were a morning person."

"Mmm." It was all you could mustered out as you felt your eyes closing again, but the bell made you jump up a bit as the students all started heading to their desks. You rubbed your eyes one more time as the teacher stepped inside and started to babble on about the topic of the day.

You tried your best to stay awake during class.

And failed.

After the bell rang, signaling the end of class, teens started exiting the classroom. You slipped your notebook inside your backpack and as you tried to slip in your book, it ended up falling to the floor, making you curse as you knelt down to pick it up.

As you straightened up and slipped the book inside your bag, you took notice of the bottle on your desk. It was a bottled mocha-flavored coffee. You looked around the almost empty classroom, but nobody seemed to have noticed as they chattered about nonsense with their friends.

This wasn't the first time you found this kind of surprise on your desk. You never once brought it up to anyone, due to not wanting to sound crazy. But...

Who was it?

Either way, you smiled as you managed to open it and took a sip of the delicious drink and hoped it would help keep you up for the rest of the morning.

**~Small Timeskip to Lunch~**

You took your usual seat with the guys and placed the bottle on the table as you grabbed a napkin to wipe your hands before eating.

"Another gift from your secret admirer? What do we have today?" Kenny remarked as he took the bottle. The first time you had received anything, it was a bottle of orange juice when you had forgotten your money to buy anything from the vending machines. You had thought it was the guys at first, but they had denied it. Since then they would slightly tease you about it, mainly Cartman, as he would make snide remarks about how your admirer is probably some ugly-ass creep.

"Mocha coffee huh?"

"That stuff isn't healthy for you." Kyle stated as you took your drink back from the perverted blond that sat across from you.

You shrugged. "I know, but it helps keep me up."

"Then you should sleep early."

"Pfft, alright, mother, I promise!"

Kyle rolled his eyes as he flung a crushed napkin at you, but you only stuck out your tongue at him and laughed a bit. "You guys aren't trying to pull a fast one on me, right?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

You took a sip of your drink. "Like, you're not trying to get my hopes up just for in the end to laugh because I was stupid enough to think I had a 'secret admirer'?" You looked at Kenny and Cartman, knowing the two would be capable of something that humiliating. Kyle and Stan were definitely not capable to doing this. Right?

"Not me," Cartman assured. "Why would I waste my money on you? Not even for a prank!"

Kenny shook his head. "Not me either."

Cartman snickered. "You wouldn't even be able to afford it all that stuff."

"Fuck off, fatass," Kenny insulted.

"Hey!"

You ignored their squabble and looked at the bottle you held. You thought back to the other stuff. The orange juice, the bottled water, the cans of soda, even small stuff like an extra eraser or pencil and pen when you needed one!

But why wouldn't they just come to you face-to-face? Strange.

"So what I miss?" Stan took a seat beside you and flashed a small smile your way before he turned his attention back to the guys.

"Not much. Just little Ms. Caffeine here is naive enough to drink something that's probably drugged."

"What?!" You and Stan said simultaneously.

"I'm kidding!" Kyle said with a smile. "I'm sure it's fine. You haven't had any problems before, so why start now?"

You pouted. "That wasn't funny, Kyle."

Stan reached over and took the drink in his hand. "Another gift from that creep?"

He sounded a bit irritated. Was he jealous?

"I really don't think you should be drinking this..." he said in a serious tone.

You arched a brow. He's never stopped you before. Crap! What if it was drugged?!

"You ok? You look a little pale," Stan said. He went ahead and placed a hand gently on your forehead. "You feel a little warm. Wanna go to the nurse?"

You shook your head as you tried thinking rationally. You felt fine actually. Just a bit paranoid now. But... what if the guys were playing a trick on you? What if they were all in on this and wanted to freak you out because they were bored.

What if all this time they were just leading you on with this fake admirer shit to humiliate you?!

"You guys are jerks," was all you stated as you slipped on your bag, grabbed your drink, and decided to go eat somewhere else.

You heard Stan called your name but you ignored him as you continued to walk further away from their table. You decided to just throw away your food and placed the tray on a bin as you exited the cafeteria. You planned to maybe spend the rest of lunch in one of the empty classrooms. Or maybe the library.

You felt a hand on your shoulder and turned to be greeted by a somewhat annoyed Stan. "What?"

"What's wrong with you?"

You crossed your arms and sighed. "I don't mind your sense of humor, but, sheesh, that was not cool!"

"What're you talking about?"

You sighed. "Forget it."

"No, tell me."

"Come on, Stan. The drink appears out of nowhere, then you and the guys suddenly assume it is probably tainted in some way? You all planned this since the first gift!"

He shook his head. "No, you got it all wrong. We were only kidding around. I'm sure it's fine. You don't feel sick, do you?"

"Well... no." You stared at the mocha-flavored coffee. It tasted good and it did helped you perk up in the morning. But Stan took it from your hand, he walked over to the garbage bin and threw it out.

He looked at you. "Better safe than sorry though." He walked back to you and took a hold of your hand. "Come on, I'm taking you to the nurse."

No arguments were made. You had a feeling he wouldn't listen anyway.

Though you weren't surprised when the nurse said you were doing well and that nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary with you. "Thank you," you said as you stood up.

"Though you shouldn't be drinking too much caffeine, that stuff can upset your stomach or even mess with your heart if you take too much of it. I do suggest you instead get enough sleep. If necessary, sleep earlier."

You nodded. "I'll remember that," you remarked as you slipped on your bag. Stan and you walked out of the nurse's office and you crossed your arms as you looked at him. "You owe me a mocha-coffee."

The black-haired boy rolled his eyes as he followed you, reached over and gripped your wrist. You stopped on your tracks and looked over at him. "What?"

"You look so adorable when you pout," he replied with a smile.

A blush crept across your face as you lightly pushed him away. "S-Stop saying stupid shit..."

"Aww, why should I? You like it."

"I-I do not!"

"You're stuttering."

"Huh?"

Stan's smile became somewhat mischievous and playful as he leaned closer to you. "You begin to stutter whenever you're lying or hiding something from me."

"I-I... T-That...!" You kept your mouth shut once you realized that it was true what he said. Have you always done this around him whenever you tried keeping things a secret from him?! "Y-You're an idiot, Marsh!"

"Mm, your idiot?"

"What?"

You were caught by surprise when you felt your back hit the wall. Had you been backing away from him all this time? How did you not even noticed?! You saw him placed his hands beside each side of your head as he stared at you.

"Am I your idiot?" he repeated as he moved closer, his body so very close to yours. You swallowed hard as you were overwhelmed by his cologne. It made your mind go blank, you pressed your hands against his chest. He stared at you for a couple a seconds before his face began to inch closer to you.

In that moment, you were certain Stan was going to kiss you.

But chattering made him pull away from you as you tried to regain your composure. The footsteps were louder now and two girls came around the corner. You recognized them as Wendy's friends and were so glad that they were so loud when talking that they could probably be heard about a mile away!

Bebe noticed the two of you though. She gave Stan a somewhat dirty look before flipping her curly hair and continued to walk along with the other girl.

"That was a close one," Stan sighed as he slipped his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah," you agreed. The bell rang and doors began to open, students piled out and headed off to their next classes. "See you later? Or football practice again?"

He nodded. "Sorry. Tomorrow we can work more on our project. Maybe finally be able to put the finishing touches."

"Sounds good," you remarked with a friendly smile. You waved at each other as you went your separate ways and headed towards your next class.

**~After School~**

As you have since the both of you started your little "relationship", you stopped by the football field to see how he does in practice and you were always left impressed. Though today your plans were cut short, due to having to go pick up your brother from his soccer practice.

You gave a glance towards the field before you left. You never minded walking all the way to the Community Center, you always enjoyed having some time for yourself and your thoughts.

You picked up the squirt and headed home. As always, you two would chatter about unimportant things in life, but they were moments you enjoyed.

Once you both arrived home, he rushed upstairs. "Wash up!" you called after him. "I'll be starting lunch soon!"

"Yeah, yeah!" he shouted out.

You closed the door and made sure to lock it before you headed upstairs yourself.

**~Small Timeskip~**

You lightly nibbled on the top of your pen as you stared at your computer. You had finished your homework and were surprised that it was still somewhat early. You finished making dinner, you both already ate and you made sure Luke finished doing his work as well.

Now what?

Before you had a chance to think about anything else, your mind instantly went to Stan and you.

It wasn't anything new. Ever since you both started this whole friends with benefits thing, those memories would invade your brain whenever you had nothing else. You weren't having second thoughts nor were you planning to end it any time soon.

The thoughts that invaded your brain were... if you were good in bed? The last couple of times you both had sex, you had to admit, there had been times when you wondered if you were good enough for him. You were so new to all of this, so it always felt different in the beginning, but recently it has been a bit... repetitive.

Not that you thought it was bad! You just felt that maybe there was something you could do to make things a bit more, well, different for him. The last thing you wanted was for him to get bored. You looked at your computer.

Maybe you could... do some research?

It wouldn't hurt, right?

But now the question was - what were you going to search up?

You had no experience in this kind of stuff and you never were the type to look up anything like this. That's not to say you were a naive and innocent girl. You had your fantasies back before this whole situation. But never had you ever thought it possible to come true!

That being said, it didn't mean you searched up stuff that was perverse.

"Ok..." You sighed. "If I want to make this a better experience, I have to at least try!" And with that resolve, you decided to search anything that could help you out.

After a couple of minutes... you didn't really get much out of the internet. Except some educational stuff you already learned in Sex Ed and some freaky stuff you could've lived without, along with some peculiar things people seem to enjoy.

Either way, it was a waste of an hour. Though there was one thing that stuck in your mind. And that was that perhaps exploring your own body, you're able to figure yourself out, making it easier to guide your sexual partner through it.

Perhaps that's what you and Stan needed. To get to know each others' bodies, to touch and linger, to see what areas turn the both of you on the most.

"Stan..." you whispered at the thought. You should give it a try. That thought lingered in your mind. Nobody was home. Your mother was still at work. Luke was at a friend's and you wouldn't have to pick him up for another hour.

You stood up from you chair and turned your computer screen off. You made your way to your window and closed the curtains. Though nobody was home you still locked your door. Better to be safe than sorry. You sat on your bed and sighed as you thought about this for another moment.

After about a few seconds, you allowed your hands to move. You weren't sure what you were doing at first, but didn't stopped. You knew you had to get passed that awkward feeling if you wanted this to work.

Your mind was filled with Stan. His voice, his cologne, his touch... And it helped ease your body and mind. It helped guide your hands to where you wanted him to caress you the next time.

**And before you knew it, you were letting out soft moans and muttered his name once in a while.**


	8. |Trying Something Different|

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what? Smut chapter. ^^; Just a warning. I apologize again. As I said before, I'm still practicing writing this kind of stuff.

**"Wow, it came out great. We make a good team, huh?" Stan remarked as he stared at the canvas that was nicely decorated with colorful note cards as well as a few notes here and there.**

You nodded in agreement as you made sure it wasn't close to anything that could fall on it. "You don't think we went a little overboard?"

He shook his head. "Nah. I think it's nicely presented. Now we just have to make sure we have our oral reports ready and memorized."

"That shouldn't be too hard. We have almost everything memorized due to all the work we did on this." You smiled.

He chuckled. "True. Hey, did you get interviewed by any of our classmates?"

You pondered for a moment. "Two of them. One was Token and Nichole. The other was Cartman and..." You stopped as you looked at the black-haired teen. He didn't looked at you or said anything.

This was the first time either of you even thought about Wendy since that argument that led to their break-up. "Um, anyway, hopefully we get a good grade!"

"You kidding? Of course we will!" He wrapped an arm around you and grinned. "This will definitely get us an A! And we probably won't have to worry too much about the next semester."

You playfully slapped his arm. "Don't neglect your studies Marsh! I'm not always going to be there to help you out of those jams!" You scolded lightheartedly.

"Aww. But you always are there to pick me right back up!" He wrapped his arms around your waist as you pretended to struggle. "You're my best friend, no?"

"I thought Kyle was your best friend!" you reminded as you arched a brow.

He thought for a moment. "Well, he's my childhood best friend!"

"Still counts!"

Stan's grip tightened as he rested his head on your shoulder, his body pressed up against your back and you couldn't help but let out a soft gasp. "Fine. Then... you're my special, best friend..."

You couldn't argue with that. Your cheeks turned a light pink as you felt him fiddling with the buttons of your sweater and you managed to pull yourself away from him. "Um, well, since we're done, I think I should be heading home now! U-Unless the guys wanna hang out then we can do that too!"

Stan blinked, slightly confused. "What's wrong?"

"Um... n-nothing." You fiddled with the hem of your sweater.

He stared at you and you sighed. "Well, there has been something on my mind for a while now."

Stan slipped his hands in his pockets. "What is it?"

You weren't sure how to bring it up. But you knew you had to. You looked at his blue eyes and straightened up. "Well, um, it's about our little situation."

"Oh?"

"Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy every single moment we have... sex. I can't stress this enough, I do enjoy it. But, recently I've been thinking that..." You noticed he looked a bit worried, maybe even almost a bit mad. You weren't trying to hurt his ego or anything. You really did enjoy it. You took a deep breath as you continued, "...that perhaps we should explore our desires a bit more, beforehand."

Stan arched a brow, his expression softened. "You wanna do more foreplay?" You blushed a bit but nodded. A smile graced his handsome face as he let out a small laugh and you looked at him confused.

"What's so funny?!"

He waved his hands in defense. "N-Nothing..." he struggled a bit as he laughed. "I-I just thought you w-were trying to ask for more out of this r-relationship! You really s-scared me there for a m-moment!"

More out of the relationship? You crossed your arms as you waited for the laughter to die down. He wiped a tear from his eye and looked at your stern expression. "And why is it so funny if I would've asked for more out of the relationship?!"

He walked closer to you. "We both agreed we wouldn't. We know what this is and we don't want to be anything else. I thought I made myself clear when we started this, that I love the way things are between us. I like that we're friends that can have a good time."

"Mm, well, I can't complain, after all, that wasn't what was going through my mind," you remarked as you uncrossed your arms.

"Are you bored?"

You shook your head no. "That's not what I meant. Look, I just think that maybe we should try and explore each other a little more because, well, it might help us further pleasure each other. I noticed you have a habit of always aiming for my neck. I like it, but... I would like it if you paid more attention to other parts of my body."

Stan nodded. "I see. And this counts for the both of us?" He leaned closer to you, his eyes at that moment filled with lust.

"Of course," you replied as you reached up and caressed his face. "I want to get to know your body, Stan." You pressed yourself closer to him as his hands roamed your sides. "I want to know what turns you on..." Your fingers fiddled with the zipper of his jacket, slowly you began to pull it down.

"I want to know what parts of you are sensitive..." You pushed his jacket off of him and he let it fall to the floor. You pulled at his white t-shirt and he got the message as he easily took it off and you felt your breath hitched for a moment. No matter how many times you looked at him, it was always a sight to see him naked or half-naked. Your fingers grazed his skin and you felt him shudder under your touch. It made you smile as you began kissing his chest.

He managed to unbutton your sweater and you took it off. His hands fumbled with your tank top and you pulled back a bit, raised your arms up and let him pull it over your head. He threw it somewhere on his floor, neither of your cared at that moment about where it landed as he caressed your bare sides and you returned your attention to his body. Your hands moved upwards, gently you stroke his arms, his shoulders. Your lips went ahead and pressed against the places your hands had caressed.

A soft moan escaped his throat when you reached his neck and you grinned. So this is how it felt to find a weak spot. You continued to kiss his neck, every part of it as you enjoyed hearing him groan and pant. But you were caught by surprise and let out a loud moan as you felt his hands fondling your butt. He moved his hands back to your waist, his thumbs hooked inside the hem of your pants as he moved his hands to the front and managed to undo the button.

Slowly he began to push down your pants as your hips swayed from side to side, you enjoyed the attention you were receiving now. He slowly knelt down, on his way he kissed your neck, your chest, your breasts that were covered by your bra. He continued down your torso until he reached your waist. He pulled your pants down the rest of the way and you lifted each leg as he pulled them off completely. Stan caressed your legs and all you could do was gently tousle his black strands. He gently pulled your legs apart and kissed your inner thigh, making you moaned again.

"Stan..."

As his lips touched every bit of your skin of your lower half, you could feel the part between your legs burning with desire, you were getting wet as he stroked and kissed.

Finally, you felt his breath against the cloth that was your undergarments and he pressed his lips against it. He kissed your covered pussy as your hand gently tugged at his hair while he did so. He looked up at you and you stared at his beautiful blue orbs, clouded with desire, just as you knew yours were as well. He pushed aside the bottom of your panties, exposing you before him and it was always somewhat embarrassing that he would stare at you.

"Mm, ah~" You moaned as you felt his fingers gently traced over your wet slit. His thumb going over your clit so softly, obviously teasing you. Your free hand moved to one of your breasts. You pulled down your bra to touch the skin as you rubbed while Stan continued to graze your pussy with his fingertips, only very lightly pressing the tips inside of you and then quickly pulled them out of your.

Too quickly for your liking.

"Stan... Please..." you whined.

He smirked. "I thought you wanted more foreplay."

You pouted. "D-Don't be a jerk..."

"Mm, that hurts my feelings," he joked, but he stopped touching you. You were about to chastise him, but he winked at you. "Perhaps if you tell me what it is you want."

You scowled at him. "Y-You're really gonna do this?"

He shook his head. "Fine, if you don't want to..."

Your hand gripped his hair. "Don't." Your whole face went red as your swallowed the lump in your throat. "Please... I need it... I don't care if it's your fingers or tongue..."

A low chuckle escaped his throat as he returned his attention to your wet core. He pulled down the damp cloth and leaned his face closer, his tongue pressed against your wet lower lips and he gave a long lick. His tongue lapped up the wetness from your folds as your hips began to move against his face.

"Ohh fuck..." you panted as you continued kneading your breast while your other hand held on to his hair, but you made sure not to pull hard on him. His tongue penetrated you and you couldn't hold back the cry of pleasure as he suckled on your pussy, his hands moved to your butt, holding you in place.

Your eyes shut tight as you felt yourself so very close to climaxing. Just a bit more. "Fuck... I... I'm...!" You stuttered. Your eyes widened as he pulled away from you and kept you from losing your balance.

"Nuh-uh. I deserve a little attention too," he said with a mischievous grin. You cursed him mentally but nodded, since it was true. He did deserve some attention as well. He stood up and led you to his bed. He quickly did away with his belt, pants, and boxers and climbed on to the mattress. His cock hard already. You crawled on to the bed and were about to position yourself to give him a blowjob, but Stan surprised you as he pulled you closer to him, one leg pulled so that it was on the other side of his body, your pussy faced him.

You understood what it was he wanted. You hoped you'd be able to concentrate this way. You gently wrapped your fingers around his hardened cock, it pulsated against your hand and you began with a gentle stroke.

Stan groaned as his hands caressed your thighs while you worked on him. "Your mouth... Use your mouth now," he grunted impatiently. You ignored him for a bit, you wanted to pay him back for the teasing he did on you earlier. Your strokes slowed down a bit and you heard him growl. His hips moved, thrusting against your hand and you couldn't help but snicker a bit at his neediness.

"Ahh!" you cried out as you felt his fingers thrust inside of you. "S-Stan...! N-Not so harsh...!" you gasped as he continued. You decided to stop teasing him and swirled your tongue around the tip, gently suckling on it once in a while and dipped your tongue into the slit. Your hands massaged his thighs, it made him tremble a bit and you took more of him inside your mouth.

His fingers now thrusted at a steady pace, he hooked them a bit, hitting you at the right spot, making you moan against the hardened flesh, the vibration felt good against his skin. You used one hand to stroke the base of his cock while your mouth worked on the upper part. Your other hand went to gently stroke his balls.

He groaned softly. You felt his cock twitched in your mouth and you went a bit faster, knowing he was about to come any moment now. You felt him pulled his fingers out and replaced by his tongue, his hands on your hips.

The rhythm became faster and sloppier from both sides as you both were now reaching that final peak. A few final strokes and your tongue rubbing against his cock and he gasped as he came. Your eyes widened as you hadn't had time to pull away and you felt the hot liquid going down your throat. You gasped as you pulled his cock from your mouth and panted. The liquid was salty, bitter.

Honestly, why did most people in stories seem to write it as if it was the most delicious taste? The thought ran through your mind for a moment before you felt Stan once again working on you.

You felt yourself reach that wonderful high, your eyes rolled up a bit as you felt your body quivered against him. You felt Stan lapping up your juices as if it was his favorite thing in the world. You swear you could sense him grinning as he gave your pussy a kiss.

Both of you laid there for a moment, you hoped you weren't too heavy for him, but just to be safe, you were about to roll out of him. "No." You stayed in place as he caressed your legs. "I've been wanting you to ride me for some time now..."

A blush crept across your face as he said that. You did said you wanted the both of you to do more than the usual. You went ahead and began to stroke his cock. Shortly after you achieved it and turned around to face him. You gave him one more look before slowly slipping his stiff member in you. You moaned softly, but didn't go all the way down before you moved your hips up, only the tip of his cock still resided in you as you teased him for a bit.

His hands surprised you as they gripped your hips and buried himself inside of you. "Ahh! Fuck! Stan...!" He didn't wait as he started to thrust, making you bounce along. You focused and started to move your hips along with his thrusts, your hands rested against his chest as your butt slammed down on him.

The room filled with moans and once in a while swears as you rode him. It was a wonderful feeling, being on top, looking down at the boy that drove you crazy and seeing an expression of utter bliss on his face. It helped boost your confidence. You rolled your hips against him, your hands slid from his chest, to his arms. He took your hands in his and you managed to push them on to the mattress as you leaned your body forward. His fingers laced with yours and you couldn't help but feel a deeper connection at doing so.

Your foreheads pressed together as your hips continuously moved. You wanted to kiss him. You wanted him to kiss you. Never have the two of you locked lips during sex. You had assumed it was because it was strictly a relationship thing, but God! Did you ached for his lips against yours right now!

Of course, you held in that feeling. The last thing you wanted was to lose this. Sure, it might just be a fling between friends. But it was the closest you had to being with him in a sexual level. And you loved it!

"Ngh. Stan... I-I'm coming!" you muttered as your grip on his hands tightened. Your thrusts quickened and you panted as you swore repeatedly until you could no longer form any kind of words, your body jerked a bit as it felt like electricity coursed through you.

But you only had a second to relax as Stan still had not reached that peak and he wrapped his arms around you, turned the both of you over so he was now on top. His hips pounding against yours quickly and harder, the closer he got to his orgasm. His eyes shut tight as he forced himself to pull out of you, gave himself a few strokes and came on your stomach.

At that moment you were glad he remembered he wasn't wearing a condom. You may love this boy, but you sure as hell weren't ready for any big changes.

"Fuck..." Stan panted. "That was great..."

You smiled at him and nodded in agreement and forced yourself to sit up. "I should go and get cleaned up..." You groaned a bit. "You were a bit rougher than usual."

"Heh, sorry," he apologized as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Here, I'll help you to the bathroom so you can take a shower."

"Thanks."

**~Small Timeskip~**

"Fuck, you two, what took you so long?!" Kyle asked in an irritated tone as you both showed up at the basketball court.

"Sorry, dude," Stan replied with a smile. "Got a little distracted..." You blushed when he glanced at you.

"Did you two came together?" Kenny asked.

"We met along the way," you lied as you felt your cheeks got hotter. "So, are we gonna play or just stand around?!"

"You're gonna play?" Cartman questioned.

You grinned. "Why not?! I know a thing or two about basketball!" you assured.

"Ok, two against two and losers will rotate once in a while," Kyle said. Everyone agreed.

**The rest of the afternoon was spent having a fun game of basketball.**


	9. |Texting|

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Whoo! New chapter! So sorry for the long wait. What with the holidays and such, I've been busy. ^^; Also, this chapter took much longer 'cause I kept going back to edit it. Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

**"Friendship... the emotions or conduct of friends; the state of being friends. That is the definition given when looking up the word..."**

You felt a bit nervous as everyone's eyes were on you and Stan as you both stood in front of the class, giving your oral reports for the project. He looked at you once he finished with his opening statement, the signal that it was your turn.

His small smile warmed your heart and you managed to feel better. You gestured with your hand at the canvas. "To many of us, the definition of friendship comes down to the same thing, just in different words. But despite that, we each have different ways of experiencing said feeling."

"David Tyson said 'True friendship comes when the silence between two people is comfortable' and it is a quote we both felt describe the meaning of the word perfectly. Describes the feeling we each have with those we consider our closest of friends," Stan added.

You nodded in agreement. "We learned that friendship means dealing with not just the good, but the bad as well. I know it sounds like some corny line for a romance flick, but, the difference is that when people date, they tend to try and impress the other person. With a friend, you can feel comfortable with who you are. You can say something dumb without the need to explain yourself..." You looked at Stan. "Being a true friend, means no matter what happens, you're always willing to stand by their side, because a true friend is hard to come across..."

Stan looked at you as well, his smile not once left his lips as you stared at him. The clapping made you turned to the class as the teacher walked to the front.

"Wonderfully presented. Love the way you decorated the canvas. Beautiful! You both get an A+ for presentation! Looking forward to reading those reports. You may take your seats." Stan and you thanked the teacher and headed off to your seats. "Now, next up..."

Your phone vibrated in your pocket and you took it out to see a message from Stan. You made sure the teacher wasn't looking and opened the message.

**= My place later? We can celebrate ;) =**

You smiled as you immediately answered back.

**= Sure. What do you have in mind? =**

**= Patience. XD We'll take our time once we're there. =**

You closed your legs tightly as you stole a quick glance at him and noticed his smirk. Ever since you both explored each others' bodies some more, the sex has been quite the adventure and you admitted, it always turned you on remembering it or even thinking about what Stan had up his sleeve. You had definitely awakened something inside of him.

And you were so glad!

**###**

Words couldn't express the feelings that overwhelmed you every time you both gave in to the carnal pleasures your bodies craved. It was as if you both would just lose all common sense, ignore everything else, and just focus on each other. The way his lips felt like they left a burning mark on each part of your body was always invigorating for you.

You would cling to him as if he was the only thing holding you up at the moment. And in a way it was true. You would always feel a certain intoxicating feeling overwhelm you whenever you both became intimate with each other. Stan has become a much more attentive lover as he made sure his hands would explore every inch of your body.

And the sex, though it became somewhat of a common routine for the both of you, the pleasure only grew as you both would try something new once in a while. One day he would be playful and a tease, enjoying the way you would writhed at his touch. Other days he would quickly strip you off your clothes and take you then and there, just wanting to fuck you senseless.

You didn't complained. You loved both sides.

The only thing you hated, was the no kissing. The sex was good and it has only become better the more you fooled around. But... there was always something missing.

He mostly used his tongue on your body, the kisses were minimal. You always tried not thinking too much about it, but after a while, you just couldn't help it.

You wanted to kiss Stan Marsh.

You wished deeply that he would kiss you.

**###**

It has been a week since Stan and you presented your project. Everyone else had already gone as well, today the last two groups presented.

'Love...' you thought. Hearing Wendy and Cartman speak about it was definitely strange. After all, what did Cartman know about love? You were almost certain he only memorized whatever lines Wendy told him to memorize.

And you assumed Wendy was speaking from her own experience and what she felt, which made you feel jealous. Add the fact that she kept glancing over at Stan.

There was no reason to be jealous. You kept reminding yourself that Stan and you were only friends. Friends with benefits. That's all.

Still... Didn't take away the fact that you were in love with the black-haired boy. And the very idea that she could take away the only thing you had to being close to him made you angry.

You unlocked your locker and were about to put your books away when you remembered you forgot one of your books from your last class and swore under your breath as you closed it and rushed to the classroom.

Through the small window you caught sight of someone and stopped from opening the door. It was Wendy. 'Is the book that important?' You had homework from it, so yeah. You took a deep breath before you opened the door and walked inside.

She was... crying. Well, quietly sobbing. You closed the door carefully and wondered if you could make your way to your desk without her noticing.

No such luck of course.

Wendy looked up at you, wiped her tears away as she tried composing herself. She said your name quickly, obviously feeling embarrassed. "Um... w-what are you doing here?"

"I forgot my geometry book," you replied as you avoided eye contact. She sighed and you felt more uncomfortable. "Um... I'll just..."

"Can I... ask you something...?"

No. You wanted to answer, but your brain stopped you from being rude. All you did was nod as you said, "Yeah, sure." It was quiet for a moment and you decided perhaps it was best to take a seat, so she wouldn't feel like you were trying to get out of there.

Though that was exactly what you wanted. You took a seat on the desk beside the one she was sitting on.

"Um... you and Stan..."

"What about us?"

"You two have been hanging around together a lot, because of the projects."

"Yeah...?"

She shifted uncomfortably and glanced your way. "Did he... ever mentioned me?"

You shook your head. "No."

"O-Oh..." She looked down. Ouch. Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to say it so bluntly. You felt a little guilty for letting your peevish feelings take over you at that moment.

"Well, he obviously doesn't want to speak about something that is clearly personal between the both of you..."

That had obviously made her feel a bit better as she looked over at you, a smile evident on her pretty face. "Y-You really think so...?" she sniffed.

You shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know what Stan is thinking. We're friends and all, but I can't read the dude's mind."

Wendy let out a soft giggle as she wiped the new tears that had formed. "I... I wanna ask you something else. Some advice."

"What about Bebe?"

She shook her head. "Advice that won't lead to the answer being parties and boys," she answered.

A small smile formed on your lips and you nodded. "What is it?"

"Do you think... I should try and talk to Stan?" _Oh no._ "I just, I miss Stan. We've been through so much together that... it feels wrong to just end it the way we did." _Don't say anymore!_ "But, I just wish he would be more considerate! To think about me for just a moment!" _Nothing will change if you two get back together._

Her gaze turned to you. You made sure to keep a calm expression as you looked at her sad violet eyes. "I just... I wanna know if it's stupid to feel like I wanna give the relationship another chance..."

_What do you want me to say?! To encourage you to go to him?! No way! I'm not gonna give him up!_ There was a horrible feeling deep inside of you, one you didn't wish to feel. You knew you couldn't snap. You shouldn't. You made sure to remain calm.

A moment of silence, before you finally spoke.

"Look, Wendy..." You knew you had to remain neutral. "I'm gonna be honest with you... Stan and you clearly have your problems that stem deeper than just a simple misunderstanding. Now, I'm not taking sides! And I can't really give a definite answer to that question..."

Silence again, as she looked down at her hands that rested on her lap.

"But..." you added, despite every fiber in your being telling you to just shut up. "...I think that you should think things through clearly. Not because others tell you is the right or wrong thing. I think, you should really look deep inside yourself and ask yourself what it is you believe is the right choice."

Wendy looked over at you. She reached over and took your hands in hers. "What would you do if you were in my shoes?"

"In all honesty...?" She nodded. "Well, I guess, I would ask myself if he is someone I truly want in my life. Depending on the answer, I would try and move on or... talk to him."

The black-haired girl looked down at your hands in hers for a moment before she reached over and wrapped her arms around you. It surprised you and made you feel awkward to have Wendy showing you this kind of affection.

It also made you feel kind of guilty. You very softly patted her back, your hands barely touched her since you just wanted her to let you go. Much to your relief, she did.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, um, whatever." You stood up and were at a lost of words. You looked at your desk and quickly rushed to it, grabbed your book and slipped it in your bag. "I gotta go now... homework and stuff..." You didn't wait for her to say another word as you exited the classroom.

That was uneasy. You hated that feeling of guilt in your stomach that almost made you want to puke. You didn't hate Wendy or anything. But her acting so friendly, it was strange since you both hardly ever talked. And the fact that you were pretty much messing around with her ex and giving her advice on whether to move on or not was strange, to say the least.

After you finally felt the feeling disappear, you headed to your locker to make sure you had everything you needed. You stopped on your tracks as someone familiar was standing before you.

Him again. Those icy cobalt blue eyes staring deep into you.

He didn't say a word nor did he showed any kind of interest. He simply walked past you and towards the direction of the stairwell.

You decided not to pay much mind to it. It's not like you even talked to Craig Tucker. You walked to your locker. "Shit." You realized you hadn't locked it when you left to the classroom. Luckily nobody seemed to be around anyway. You opened your locker and were about to place your history book inside when you noticed a cute small bag with a red ribbon tied around it.

"Huh?" You placed the book on the side and took out the bag. It had your favorite kinds of candies inside. Your eyes glimmered in delight. You felt like it has been forever since you had these. Since the eight grade perhaps!

Wait, was this from that secret admirer?

Yeah, you still got small gifts from this person. It wasn't everyday, but recently it has been more often than usual.

Kind of creepy... but you've come to the conclusion that he's harmless. Otherwise he would've tried something by now.

Was he close by and you missed him?!

But... what did it matter anyway? It's not like you could do anything anyway. You were involved with Stan. Sure he had stated that if you ever found someone then you both will stop without any questions.

But... Is that what you wanted? When it came down to it, could you actually choose someone else over Stan? You decided not to ask yourself anymore questions and put away everything you didn't need in the locker, closed and locked it. You slipped the bag of candies in your jacket's pocket and rushed off.

**~Your House~**

A small sigh left your lips as you heard the sound of the microwave. You opened it and took out the leftovers from yesterday. You served yourself something to drink and took your little dinner to the living room. You saw a small light blinking on your phone and you placed the plate and glass on the coffee table. You grabbed your phone and took a seat on the couch, typing your pin in and unlocking your phone.

Two messages from Stan. You smiled as you read his messages and were about to reply when your phone notified you of another message. It was from a number you weren't familiar with.

You shrugged and decided to open it to at least see what it was.

**= Enjoy the candy. =**

Your eyes widened at the message.

How did this person...? Was this the secret admirer? Who was he? You clearly didn't personally know who this person was since you didn't know this number. How did he get yours?

You contemplated whether to reply or not. Before it was just harmless little gifts that were left on your desks and locker. But now... if he knew your phone number then... he could find out your address, right?

It was risky, but you decided to send a message. Maybe you could make him reveal himself.

**= Who's this? I'd love to thank you in person. =**

**= A friend =**

**= A friend? But then how come I don't have this number saved in my contacts? =**

**= New phone =**

**= Seriously? That's the best you can come up with? =**

**= Yup =**

A small smile formed on your lips. His short responses were a bit cute. You wondered if maybe the admirer was someone shy? Or maybe someone younger. If that was the case, you would have to let them down gently.

But he said he's a friend. Maybe you two have talked for a bit before? You tried remembering any past classmates you probably sat next to that you talked to at least once. Or maybe someone you've been partnered with for class projects?

Your phone made a 'DING' and you looked to see a new message from the stranger.

**= What do you want tomorrow? =**

You blinked, confused as you typed your reply.

**= Aww, ran out of ideas already? XD =**

You waited for his response as you picked up the glass and drank a bit of your soda. You carefully placed the glass down on the table when you heard the sound and picked up your phone to read the message.

**= Just for that, you won't get the gift tomorrow =**

You giggled a bit. You spent the following hour texting back and forth with your mysterious admirer, even forgetting to eat your food. He didn't revealed much that could help you pinpoint who he was, but certainly seemed to have some cute witty remarks whenever you joked around.

"Who are you texting?" You jumped a bit as you realized Luke was looking over your shoulder. You let the screen turn to black on your phone as you scowled at your younger brother. You hadn't even heard anyone come in.

"Haven't you heard it's rude to invade people's privacy?"

Luke crossed his arms. "I wasn't invading. You're the one texting in the living room. And last I remember, you don't own it."

A soft laugh from your mother as she walked closer. You smiled at her and stood up to go and give her a hug and a kiss. "Hey mom."

"Sweetie. I wasn't expecting you here by yourself. I thought you'd be hanging out with your friends since you didn't need to pick up Luke."

"Oh. I just wanted some time for myself," you told her with a smile.

"Why do you put a password on your phone?"

Your eyes widened in shock as you looked over at the couch to see Luke had your phone and was typing all kinds of numbers.

You quickly pulled it from his hands. "Give me that! Little brat!"

"Luke, sweetie, what did I say about invading your sister's privacy?"

Luke sighed. "Not to do it unless it's necessary."

"Luke."

"To respect it just as I want mine to be respected," he corrected himself.

Your mother nodded. "Now, go wash up. Dinner will be ready in a moment."

You looked at her. "If it's ok with you mom, I'll be in my room. I need to finish some homework and I already ate something, anyway."

"Doesn't look like you did," Luke noticed the almost untouched plate of food. You glared at him for a moment.

"Well, I guess there's no harm in that." She gave your head a kiss. "Go ahead, dear."

"Thanks." You hugged her again and cleaned up your mess from the coffee table. After washing the dishes you grabbed your phone and rushed upstairs to your bedroom. You had already finished your homework so the rest of the evening was yours alone.

For the rest of the night you spent texting back and forth with him. He made you smile and laugh so much that you started feeling comfortable around him. So much so that not only had you forgotten to try and figure out who he was, but you had also forgotten to reply to Stan's message.

**~Morning~**

You grumbled as you heard your alarm. You yawned as you stretched out your body, in hope that it would help wake you up. You grabbed your phone and turned off the alarm. You saw you had two new messages. You opened the one by your secret admirer.

**= Morning. See you in school. =**

You pursed your lips as you remembered that you hadn't investigated as you promised yourself you would. You grabbed your towel and headed out to take a quick shower as well as do your morning routine. After you finished, you headed back to your room to get ready for school.

Some things he did shared. Apparently you both have actually talked. But he refused to say when. When you asked if recently, he did admit no and you figured it had to be someone from sophomore or freshman year if that was the case. According to him you both had about three classes together this year.

When you asked if you two had at least seen each other or crossed paths, he answered with a simple yes. There were so many people you crossed paths with in school, it was hard to pinpoint when exactly you could've seen him.

You looked at your phone again to check the time and saw you had an unread message. It was from Stan. "Shit!" You recalled forgetting about him last night and opened the message to see what it was.

**= Hey, we have to talk. Meet me before classes today. =**

Have to talk?

Was he angry at you? Did he think you ignored him on purpose?

You swallowed the lump in your throat as you reread the message. You sent a quick 'Ok' and then finished getting dressed, made sure everything was off, locked the door, and headed off to school. Your mind kept going back to Stan's message. You felt queasy.

Maybe it wasn't anything serious. Maybe it was good news!

The worry kept piling up as you kept walking until you arrived at the school building and walked inside, ignored the chattering of your classmates as you searched around for Stan. His locker was on the first floor. You heard Kyle's voice and knew Stan would be with him.

And you were right. You caught sight of the both of them along with Cartman and Kenny. Stan looked up to your direction, he had a small smile. That made you feel a bit better. At least it wasn't anything bad since he seemed to be in a good mood at least. You waved at him and he waved back as you started walking towards your idiot friends.

"Stan!"

You stopped when you heard that loud tone of voice that was oh-so-familiar. From the other side of the hall, Wendy appeared and leaped into Stan's arms. The boy wrapped his arms around her as well, a smile on his handsome face as she landed on her feet and looked at him before they shared a kiss.

You felt as if the room was spinning, your feet moved back as you placed a hand on the nearby wall. Your heart was being squeezed, a knot formed in your stomach again, and you felt as if you wanted to throw up at that moment.

Is that what the message was about? To tell you that he went back to her?

"Blech! Get a room!" Cartman shouted as he walked away, followed by Kenny.

You decided not to wait for them to notice you and walked the opposite direction to head to the second floor.

**~Second Floor, Your Locker~**

So it was over, huh. "Tch. He could've at least told me before he took her back..." You realized what had just gone through your head. "Shit..." You gave a small humorless laugh as you realized you were the idiot for thinking that way, as if you two were even in any kind of actual relationship.

You knew it would eventually end. And of course, you should've seen it coming. Stan always goes back to Wendy. No matter what.

Your phone vibrated in your pocket and you took it out to see you had a message from 'Secret Admirer', as you had labeled the number.

**= You ok? =**

He saw you. Wait! Does he know about your crush on Stan? You decided to lie and text that you were ok. You put your phone in silence, not wanting to deal with anyone right now as you slipped it in your bag and decided to head to your first period class.

**Not even caring about the people you bumped into as you walked.**


	10. |Confession|

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **First thing, I wanna thank all my readers. Thank you so much for the kudos, it makes me smile to know you are enjoying this fic. ^^ I'm so grateful to all the wonderful comments, they really motivate me to continue working on this and it helps me out a lot <3 Thank you again. Now, I'll shut up so you can enjoy the following chapter. C=**

**You avoided him... You avoided her...**

It was a little hard in your Creative Writing class since Stan sat close by. But you did your best not to look at him. He didn't seem to try too hard to get your attention. Then again he was probably too focused with his 'precious Wendy' to even think about anything else. Especially his friend.

Because in the end, that's all you were. A friend. His best friend, he had said.

Technically he never gave you hope. Then why did you feel so horrible? Why did you feel like punching Stan or clawing out Wendy's eyes?!

...

Actually, you did knew why. There was no fooling yourself. You knew that you had hoped for much more. That maybe Stan would had fallen for you during the time you two spent together.

Now, you just felt like an idiot for having thought that way.

Everything passed by like a blur. You hardly paid attention to anything, except making sure to avoid those two. You didn't need to see them being all disgustingly affectionate towards each other.

And finally, school came to an end for the day and you couldn't wait to get home and just forget about everything today! You quickly stopped by your locker to put away some stuff. And you would have gotten the whole day without having to even speak to him.

Oh, if only you were that lucky...

His voice made you freeze in place. You mentally swore as you took in a deep breath before you spoke.

"What is it?"

He smiled at you, the way he had always done. "The guys and I are gonna meet at Kyle's to play some games. Wanna come?"

You shook your head. "No thanks."

"Aww, come on! We promise we won't cheat! So you won't have to play peacemaker this time," he remarked with a smile.

"I said no!" you snapped as you slammed your locker. Stan arched a brow. "What's your problem? You've been acting weird all day."

_Really?! Sheesh! I wonder why?!_

You made sure to lock your locker. "I'm fine."

Silence.

"Are you... angry because of Wendy?"

You looked over at him. "N-No, of course not. But, you could've told me." He had a questioning look in his eyes and you quickly added, "Y-You said we w-would tell each other when we get together with someone beforehand!"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "That's actually why I messaged you. I was hoping to tell you before school started... I wasn't expecting Wendy to show up." You rolled your eyes. "But that doesn't matter, right? We're friends. We promised we wouldn't let this affect our friendship."

"I know, I remember, Stan." You sighed again. "Look, I just... I have a headache and I have to pick up Luke today anyway, so I can't hang out with you guys."

"Want me to give you a ride?"

"No thanks."

His eyes softened as he reached over to you and held your hand. "Come on. We can bring Luke along as well. Ike will be there so he can hang out with him," he told you. "Please?"

Why did he have to be so... alluring to you? Why did his eyes made you want to give in so very easily? You felt so pathetic at that moment.

_Am I... being a bit over dramatic...?_

That thought lingered in your mind for a while. After all, Stan was here, asking you to chill with the guys like always. You did like them all, you did enjoy spending time with them. Nothing has changed, he was keeping his part of that promise. It was obvious that his feelings for you as a friend hadn't disappeared.

Was it really worth losing your best friend over something like this?

You gave him the sweetest smile you could bring. "Mm... I guess it's ok..."

**~Broflovski Household~**

"Hey, you guys made it," Kyle greeted. "Oh. Hey Luke. Haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, back at you, Kyle," Luke greeted. "Ike home?"

"Yeah, his room," he replied.

"Cool." Luke greeted the others as he made his way upstairs. Stan and you walked towards the living area and you placed your backpack behind the couch and slump yourself on it. Kyle walked off to the kitchen to get some snacks and drinks.

"So, what are we playing?" you asked.

"We thought some Mario Kart would be a good change of pace. You know, include you a bit," Kenny remarked with a grin.

"Me?" you repeated. "Oh, well, thanks I guess. But I don't mind just watching," you added with a smile.

Cartman chuckled. "She's just scared she'll come last in every match."

You ignored his statement as you took out your phone from your pocket as the boys got everything ready. A message had been sent not long ago and you opened it to see your secret admirer was a bit worried about you.

 _He's such a sweetheart._ You thought happily.

You typed your respond to let him know you were fine. "What're you doing?" You felt the couch sank beside you and you turned to see Kenny. "Who you texting?"

"Just a friend," you lied as you slipped your phone in your sweater's pocket and smiled at the perverted blond. "You guys finished setting up?"

"Almost," he said. "Just wanted to talk a bit."

"Hm? Talk? About what?"

Kenny scooted closer to you. "You still getting those strange things from your admirer?"

So he remembered? The guys hadn't said a word about that in a while. And you hadn't mentioned anything since you thought there was no need to anyway since he seemed harmless.

"I'm guessing from your silence, that's a yes."

"What about it?" you asked, curious.

Kenny shrugged. "You given any thought about who it could be?"

"Mm, well, he said that he's a friend, but... I honestly am not sure..." You looked at him. "Why the questions?"

"Ey! Kenny, man, get your lazy ass over here and help us out!" Cartman shouted.

The blond groaned, annoyed as he stood up and walked back to help Cartman and Stan with the setup. After a minute or so, they finally had everything up and running and Stan walked over to sit with you on the couch and handed you a control.

The doorbell rang and Kenny walked over to answer it.

You heard your phone alert you and you pulled it out to see it was your mother letting you know what you can cook for dinner. You were about to answer.

"Hey guys!" Stan got off the couch and you looked over at the person that you least expected to see here.

"Who invited this bitch?!" Cartman questioned as he stood up.

Wendy walked over to Stan and gave him a kiss. You quickly turned away, internally swearing nonstop. Why? Why was she here?! Why was she invited?!

"Wendy, what are you doing here?" Stan asked. So, he hadn't invited her.

A smile formed on her pretty face. "I wanted to spend some time with you, but didn't want to take you away from your friends, so thought, why not come and hang out!"

"Oh no. No, no, no, no! This is guys time! This broad can't just barge in and think everything's gonna be ok."

"Shut up Cartman," Stan said. "Besides, we do hang out with a girl, have you forgotten?!"

Stan nodded his head at you. Cartman crossed his arms. "That's different. She's like one of the guys. Hardly counts as a girl."

Was that a compliment? Or an insult? You arched a brow, trying to think about that for a moment.

After a minute or two of discussing it, Wendy chose to stay and Cartman could only murmur as he took a seat on the floor. Stan and Wendy took a seat together and you hated that he took a seat beside you. You scooted a bit farther from him and lightly bumped into Kenny on your other side.

The blond looked at you and grinned. "Wanna cuddle?" he teased.

"Kenny, leave her alone," Stan spoke up.

"Hey, she's the one that made the first move," Kenny stated. You gave a small laugh as you lightly punched his arm, pushing him away from you.

"In your dreams, McCormick," you said.

Kyle walked in with a few snacks and drinks and placed them on the table. "Oh, hey Wendy," he greeted and she waved at him. "So, who goes first?"

"I don't really know how to play," Wendy spoke up.

"Uhh, I don't recall anybody asking you, ho," Cartman insulted. You rolled your eyes, holding in the small smile that was about to form on your lips. You felt bad for that, but your petty side was being strong today.

Stan ignored Cartman and wrapped an arm around her. "I'll help you out."

"Thanks Stan," she said sweetly and gave him a kiss.

' _Ugh. Get a fucking room..._ ' you thought as you reached for a soda and opened it, you took a large gulp before you placed it on the table. The boys decided to go a round with just them and for a moment you had managed to forget everything else, cheering the boys on and even laughed a bit as they would start they petty arguments over who was cheating, mostly came from Cartman since he was dead last.

The first round went to Kyle and you congratulated him. Then Stan won, and it earned him a kiss from Wendy to which you rolled your eyes and looked away. The next round you cheered for Kyle and Kenny, but none of the boys won. You got your turn and Wendy was given a chance as well. You admitted you so enjoyed hitting her with turtle shells whenever you were given the chance. Though she mostly ended up last since she seemed to suck at the game.

Kenny gave you a hug for winning and Kyle gave you a high-five, while Stan congratulated you and then told Wendy "You did great, babe."

You managed to relax a bit, you had to admit that it was fun. And were glad you decided to come. A few more rounds of fun and the snacks were already finished.

"I'll go get some more," you offered.

"I'll come with," Stan said as he stood up and followed you into the kitchen. You remained quiet as you poured some chips into the bowl and Stan grabbed some sodas. "Hey..." You looked over at him. "It feels like the good old days, huh?"

A smile graced your lips. "Yeah. It's nice." After you finished pouring the bag you threw it away and opened one of the cabinets to see the other one. You tried grabbing it, but it was out of your reach. You groaned as you stood on your tiptoes, your fingertips grazing the bag. As you were about to call one of the boys, you felt a warm body pressed against your back and he reached up to grab the bag with ease.

Stan's scent surrounded you and you felt your legs about to give in. He was so close to your body, his lower half pressed up against your lower back.

He brought down the bag and you slowly turned. "Y-You didn't h-have to do that..." It came out as a stutter and you hated that.

Silence.

Why was he quiet? You looked up at him and saw that he was only inches away from you. "You smell amazing," he commented. "It's the body wash I gave you?"

A blush crept across your face and you looked down as you nodded. Not long after you both became friends with benefits, Stan bought you a body wash that you had wanted for a while, but couldn't find. It had a sweet scent to it and made your body feel rejuvenated.

That day you had tried it out at his place. Of course, after you had thanked him between the sheets. His idea.

"You always brought it with you," he spoke softly.

You looked back up at him. "W-Well... we... Y-You k-know..."

Wait! Why was he stepping closer?! There was hardly any space left between the both of you anymore, he had placed his hands on the counter, his arms trapped you and you swallowed hard as his leg pushed between your legs, pressed against your heat.

"Stan... What are...?"

"There's something I wanted to say earlier. But... I held back because at the moment I thought it was stupid and I still think it is, but I can't hold it in anymore. I have to confess that I was hoping that maybe..."

"Stan!" Footsteps were heard and you both quickly separated before the owner of the voice stepped into the kitchen. Stan had managed to walk to the table with the chips and you turned to... stare at nothing in particular. "What's taking you guys so long with those snacks?"

Wendy walked over to him. "You ok? You look a little red." You heard her say and slightly turned to see her pressed a hand on his forehead.

"I'm ok, Wendy," he replied with a sweet smile and caressed her cheek. It was as if you no longer existed in that moment. And it was confirmed as he had leaned in and gave her a kiss on the lips.

Without a word you rushed out to the living room and quickly picked up your bag and slipped it on.

"What's wrong?" Kyle asked once he noticed.

"I'm going home." Stan and Wendy walked out of the kitchen at the moment. You avoided looking over at them. "I have Geometry and Sociology homework and then I have to feed Luke."

"I'll take you home," Stan offered.

You gave him a hard look. "No thanks. Enjoy yourself. We can walk," you said, your tone slightly disgruntled as you walked towards the stairway. "Luke! Come on! We're going home!"

Ike and Luke's footsteps are heard as they walked down the stairs. "Stan giving us a ride home?"

"Um..." You shook your head. "No, I don't want us to be a burden on him."

Kenny leaped off the couch and rushed to you. "Hey, I can give you a ride home then?"

"Huh?" "What?!" You and Stan had both spoke out.

You looked at Kenny, slightly confused. "Aren't you gonna stay and play?"

He shrugged. "They can go without me for a while. Besides, sounds like your little bro doesn't want to walk home today." He ruffled Luke's hair a bit before he looked at you and smiled. "How about it?"

Your gaze went to Stan for a moment. He had a somewhat annoyed look in his eyes as he stared at you guys. You looked at Kenny and nodded. "Um, sure, I guess there's no harm if you're offering."

"Cool," Kenny said. "Alright, then come on, let's go. Be right back!" He told the others before the three of you started to walk outside. Luke and Ike said their goodbyes to each other and Kenny led the both of you to his car.

It wasn't the greatest looking vehicle, but it did looked as if it worked, so that was good. He opened the rear door for Luke and closed it before he went and opened the passenger door for you.

"Thanks," you said as you slipped inside and he carefully closed the door. He stepped into the driver's seat and started the car.

The first minute or two were silent. Your thoughts returned to that strange moment in the kitchen. What was Stan going to say? And why did he do that? Your thoughts were interrupted as Kenny cleared his throat and you glanced at him. He kept his gaze on the road. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You seemed a bit strange in there."

Mm, so he noticed. You wondered if that meant everyone else has noticed. "I'm alright. Just a bit tired, is all." You rubbed your forehead. Neither of you said another word for a while. "Hey, Kenny, do you think this time... Stan and Wendy are gonna last?"

"You're asking the wrong guy," he said with a small snort. "But... if I had to guess, I'm sure they'll end up breaking up again soon."

"I suppose you're right..."

"Do I think they'll end up at the altar though, yeah," he added. That made your stomach get in a tight knot and you felt the snacks and soda trying to get back up your throat. But you managed to keep it down. The last thing you wanted was to throw up in Kenny's car.

"Why's... that...?"

He shrugged. "It's Stan and Wendy. No matter how many times they're breaking up, they always find themselves back with each other."

There was no denying that. Even you knew that before the whole 'relationship' happened between the two of you. Soon, you arrived home.

"Thanks for the ride, Kenny!" Luke said as he exited the car.

You undid the seat belt and were about to exit when Kenny placed a hand on yours and gently held your hand in his. "Um, wait." You looked at him. "Listen, I was wondering if, well, if you're not doing anything that maybe --"

The sound of your phone's ringtone interrupted him and you looked at the screen to see the name 'Stan' on it. You looked over at the blond and gave a friendly smile. "I gotta go, Kenny. But I'll see you in school tomorrow. Thanks again. Bye!" You turned and exited the car and rushed towards the door. You turned to Kenny one more time and waved goodbye before heading inside and closing the door. After you locked it you answered your phone.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Hey, everything ok?" He was slightly whispering, so you guessed he was trying not to be heard by anyone else.

You shrugged. "I'm fine. Why?"

"Just wanted to make sure that Kenny didn't try anything."

"Stan, we're friends. I already know how flirty Kenny can be, but he's only playing around, nothing --" You stopped yourself as you frowned. "Hey wait a minute! Why am I even telling you anything? It's none of your business anyway."

Silence from the other side. Then he spoke, "I'm just looking out for you."

"Thanks, but I can take care of myself," you assured. After a moment you sighed, feeling a bit bad for having snapped. "Sorry, I'm grateful you're worried about me, but I'm not going to easily just give myself to..." A sudden thought hit you as the words trailed off. You looked around to make sure Luke wasn't around.

"What is it?"

Once you were certain he wasn't, you returned to your conversation. "You think I'm going to sleep with him just like I did you..."

"N-No! Of course not..."

"I gotta go..."

"Come on, don't be like that! You know it's not what I meant!"

"I know what you meant, Stan Marsh and right now I don't feel like having my dignity stepped on more than it already has been!" You didn't even wait for him to say another word as you hung up and slump yourself on your couch. You felt so humiliated now. Not only did he do something completely stupid in the kitchen, making you even more confused than ever before, but he now dares to think of you as a slut!

You couldn't hold back the tears that now pushed through your closed eyes. A soft voice called your name and you quickly started wiping away your tears. "L-Luke! I-I thought you went upstairs."

He took a seat beside you. "I heard you yell. Are you ok?"

You blinked and looked over at your younger brother as he waited for you to reply. "I'm fine, Luke. Really," you remarked.

Luke moved a bit closer to you as he made sure he was facing you. "Alright, what's on your mind?"

You shook your head. "I don't know what you mean."

"Just tell me. I don't wanna see you moping around and sighing all the time because you are completely lost in your own mind. You'll end up hitting the wall that way and believe me, it's not as funny after a while."

You slammed a sofa cushion at him but he ignored the assault and placed the cushion beside him as he stared up at you. "I mean it though. You can talk to me. Maybe it'll help."

"What does a fourth grader like you know?"

"This fourth grader is more mature than you, that's for sure."

A small 'Ha!' escapes your lips as you slammed another sofa cushion at him, but this time he slams it back at you. Another sigh from you as you thought about what to do. "Just, something happened in school. That's all."

"No, that's not all. Come on, what else?"

"Luke..." you ran a hand through your hair. "Why do you care so much? You shouldn't even be worried about what I'm going through. God! You're so nosy."

He looked away for a moment as he murmured something.

"Huh? What was that?"

He grumbled again. "I said... You're my sister and I don't like seeing you so upset all the time! So I wanna help when I can!" He quickly spat out. Your eyes widened in surprise for a moment at his answer. You and Luke weren't the most distant of siblings, but due to the age difference, it's not like you were the best of buddies that could talk about everything.

So you couldn't help but smile. "Huh?! Hey!" Luke yelled out as you reached over and pulled him into a tight hug. "O-Ok! Ok! I love you too! Just let me go!"

You giggled before you released him. "Thanks, little bro."

He shrugs it off, but gives a small smile at you. His expression returns to serious. "So, what's bothering you?"

"Mmm... how can I explain this to you in a way you can understand...?" You were serious about that. No way were you going to admit everything to your little brother! "Ok... say there's a pen you really like, but it belongs to someone else. But then one day, that person pretty much doesn't want the pen and leaves it... on a table. You take the pen and you really enjoy using it because it feels nice... to write with it! You spend weeks... maybe a month or so... using the pen that you have pretty much forgotten it never belonged to you and suddenly the person sees you with it and wants it back..." You stopped for a moment. "What do you do...? After so long... could you really give up... the pen, I mean?"

Luke probably thought you were crazy. Though he didn't seem to show it much as he stared at you. He shifted a bit as he pondered the situation for a moment. "Well..." He finally spoke. "I don't think my answer will help since I'm pretty sure I don't feel the same way for a 'pen' as you feel for Stan."

Your eyes widened. "W-What?! I-I d-don't...!"

"Oh come on," he interrupted. "I've known about your crush on Stan for a while now. You're not the greatest at hiding it."

"I-I...!" Your face is completely burning in embarrassment and you buried it in your hands. "Oh... God! I can't believe this...!"

Luke spoke, "From what you told me, it appears that you and Stan have been hanging around for a long time because of that project you two have been working on. I'm guessing somewhere along the lines, Wendy and Stan broke up so you started getting it in your head that perhaps there is a chance between the two of you, but you didn't have the courage to admit your feelings for him. So you just hoped he would somehow feel the same way. But now he and Wendy are together and you are feeling jealous and feel it's a bit unfair."

Wow. He's good. All you could do was nod.

He said your name softly. "I think that you should tell Stan how you feel."

"That's not gonna change anything."

"You're wrong," he stated. "It may not change his feelings for Wendy, but he's not the reason you should do it for. You have to tell him how you feel, for your sake."

"What do you mean?"

"You need closure. You built this little fantasy in your mind because you're living with a doubt. A 'what-if' kind of situation. Once that bubble is burst, you'll be able to start getting better and let go of it. I'm not saying to break off your friendship with Stan or the guys. But I do think you need some time by yourself, to think things through afterwards. Your friendship with Stan is what matters to you, otherwise you wouldn't be trying so hard to handle this. But that little hope you have built up is making it harder."

You bit your bottom lip before you spoke up, "So... you're saying I have to tell Stan and deal with the rejection..."

Luke nodded. "I never said it'll be easy. But, it'll help you take a step forward, instead of staying in the same place, wondering what 'could've been' all the time."

Though you didn't want to, you know he was right. And what happened in the kitchen didn't help your thoughts. You were very close to wanting to kiss him. Despite him being in a relationship. You hated yourself for having thought that.

"I guess, that makes sense..." You looked at your little brother and smiled. "Thanks Luke. You know, you really are way too mature for your age."

"Well, one of us has to be."

"Ha. Ha." You ruffled his hair. "Go wash up. I'll get dinner started."

This time he didn't took a shot at your cooking and simply answered "Alright" and made his way upstairs. For a moment, you felt genuinely at peace.

But tomorrow, you'll have to face Stan... and confess your feelings...

**###**

You had texted Stan to meet with you before school, so that nobody was around. Normally it wasn't the greatest of ideas, but you figured you needed something to hold you back from doing anything you'll regret.

Stan drove you crazy and yesterday it was clear that you were almost willing to cross the line, despite him being in a relationship.

You waited by your locker for him. Nobody was around. It was quiet and you were alone with your thoughts for a moment. You couldn't help but think that perhaps he might not even come. After all, you guys didn't leave in the greatest of terms yesterday. He's obviously still angry. He hadn't texted back, but you were glad for that since you didn't feel like answering any questions.

After this, since you were planning on keeping some distance from him for a while. At least until you knew you were no longer harboring such strong feelings for him.

His voice made you look over at him as he made his way to you. You straightened up and inhaled deeply, prepping yourself.

"Hey..." He didn't sound too happy, but he didn't sound angry either. It did helped though. The last thing you needed was for him to sound charming and make this harder for you. "What's up?"

A lump was stuck in your throat for a moment, but you managed to speak up, "There's something I need to tell you. Something I need to get out of my chest before I end up doing something I'll regret for the rest of my life."

He crossed his arms as he waited for you to continue.

"Ok. Stan... I... I like you." No need to beat around the bush. You made yourself to just let it out.

Stan blinked. "That's it?" You felt your heart sank. "I like you too. I mean, we're best friends, it should be obvious that we like each other, otherwise we wouldn't hang out."

Oh. He didn't understand what you meant. You shook your head. "No, Stan. I mean that... I like you... a lot. I've had a crush on you since our first year of high school, but I tried convincing myself that it was just a crush! But as time went on and it never dissipated, I knew I had deeper feelings for you! I just... I couldn't help it..."

His expression had changed in that moment. He looked away, you wondered what it was he was thinking at that moment as he pushed off his hat and ran his other hand through his hair. "Y-You... like me...?"

You nodded. "Yes."

"Fuck..." He looked away as he placed his hat back on. "Why didn't you tell me before we...?"

"Because I was stupid," you replied with a small, humorless chuckle. "I thought that maybe if... we spent all that time together, then maybe, just maybe there would be a chance that you could feel the same way for me."

He looked at you. "Then why? Why tell me now?"

"Because I can't stand to see you with Wendy."

"It was never a problem before though."

"That was different!" you exclaimed. You looked around, a bit worried that someone would've heard, but no sound was heard. You lowered your voice as you continued, "Now I... I couldn't help feel this way because of what we did. Just... the way you behaved with me during all those times we..."

You looked away. "But... why tell me? Are you hoping that...?"

"No. No, of course not. I'm not expecting anything. The reason I told you is because I just needed to get this off my chest, because I can't stand the thought of not being able to hang out with you guys again. I'm in love with you Stan, but I rather get over the crush than to lose my best friend..."

Silence surrounded the both of you as you both just stood before each other, neither of you seemed to knew what to say.

So you decided to speak again. "Anyway, that's all I had to say." You walked past him, but he suddenly gripped your wrist and made you turned to face him.

"What if...?"

You tilted your head in confusion.

His blue eyes looked very serious as he stared at you.

**"What if... I wasn't planning on ending our casual relationship...?"**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **This chapter took so long! Literally went back and rewrote it countless times because I felt it was either going too fast or it was dragging. I have the whole story planned, but I always struggle with the in-between. ^^; Anyway, I think I finally am satisfied with what I came up with. Hope you enjoyed. <3**
> 
>  
> 
> **Also, this is probably my longest written chapter. ^^;**


	11. |Tempted|

**Your eyes widened at his words...**

Was that why he hadn't said a word? Was that what he actually wanted to talk to you about? To keep going with the tryst? Was that why yesterday at the kitchen he pressed up against you...? And why he called you after Kenny had dropped you off?

You quickly pulled your hand away from his grip, still shocked at his statement, unable to even make a coherent sentence.

"What's wrong?"

How could he ask that with such a straight face?!

"This isn't funny, Stan," you remarked angrily. "I just poured my heart out to you and you decide to make this kind of joke?!"

Stan took a few steps closer to you. "Who says I'm joking?" He reached out and placed his hands on your shoulders, his blue eyes stared at you. "We had fun, didn't we? I just think, it would be a bit hasty to end it on such a sour note. Maybe we can just, meet today and see...? What do you say?"

You surprised yourself at the thought that you were almost going to give in, but you held your ground and pushed him away. "Stan, stop it, you don't mean that. This isn't you."

He looked down and you could tell he was ashamed at himself for having even suggested that. He shook his head and then sighed. "Sorry. I don't... I don't know why I even..." He trailed off.

An awkward moment. You hated it.

"So, now what?" he asked.

You shrugged. "I need some time is all."

"So... we can't even hang out?"

"Not if Wendy's gonna be clinging to your every move," you scoffed. "Sorry," you quickly apologized.

"It's ok." You both avoided eye contact as another few seconds of silence passed. "So... how long do you think...?"

"I don't know," you admitted. "We'll just know when it's the right time. That moment when we look at each other and there's no more awkwardness, that's when we'll know."

He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "I guess..." He rubbed the back of his neck. The sound of footsteps caught both of your attention as chattering was now audible. "Um, see you later then?"

"Maybe" was all you could bring out before you walked past him and headed to the stairwell and up the stairs to head to your first lesson.

**~Small Timeskip to Lunch~**

You picked up the tray of food and looked around the crowded cafeteria. Your eyes instantly went to your usual table with the guys, but you knew you had to keep your promise to yourself and keep your distance for a while.

At least until you knew you no longer were going to make snarky comments - in your mind - towards Stan and Wendy. Surprisingly you found an empty table and took a seat on the bench and placed your tray on the table.

It was lonesome, but you had to admit that you felt a bit comfortable as well. Not fearing having to hear that feminine voice suddenly appearing to greet Stan.

"Hey!"

Ah, crap!

She took a seat beside you as she placed her tray on the table and was too close for your comfort. You blankly stared at her and hoped she wouldn't stay. "Um, hi. Can I help you?"

Wendy smiled sweetly at you. "I just wanted to thank you."

"For?"

"Well, after we had our talk, I thought hard about what you said and it helped me see that maybe I was being a little harsh. I know I can be stubborn and unfortunately so is Stan, but I knew I didn't want us to stay angry."

"Hmm, goodie." You poked at the cheese fries with your fork before putting three of them in your mouth and chewed. You hoped now she would leave.

But luck was against you today as not only Bebe took a seat across from you and Wendy, but a bunch of other girls sat on what was to be your table.

What the hell?

"We heard that you helped our friend," a pretty, dark-skinned girl spoke. You recognized her as Nichole Daniels. "That was very sweet of you."

"I didn't do anything," you commented as you drank a bit of your soda.

Bebe gave a wave. "Nonsense! Wendy was so upset and nothing any of us said helped her! But then she talked to you and boom! It's like, she's a totally different person!"

The other girls spoke in agreement. You couldn't help the blush that crept up your cheeks from the praise. It was uncomfortable being here with these girls. Especially since you never really liked them. You never hated them, but you did believed them to be a bit shallow. Though right now they did showed a much friendlier side. It was obvious they truly cared about their friend.

You admitted, it surprised you, but you were glad that Wendy had such good friends.

"So Wendy, finish telling us, how did you and Stan got back together?" a brunette - Nelly - spoke up.

_No, please don't._

"Well, after thinking for a long time about what we talked about, I called him up to meet with him at my place. We were supposed to talk only, but before we know it, we kissed."

The girls all squealed in delight as you put your fork down and realized that you were definitely not going to be able to finish your lunch. Hopefully you'll be able to keep it down. You wiped your hands and picked up your tray as the girls kept talking.

"Hey, where you going?" Nichole asked.

"I'm not hungry anymore," you replied as you made your way to one of the trashcans and threw the remaining contents of your meal. At the same time someone else had thrown away their contents. You looked up to see Kyle.

"Hey," he greeted.

You gave a friendly smile. "Hey, how's everything over there?" you asked.

"Same as usual... Well, not entirely."

"How so?"

"Well, you're missing." You looked down as you fiddled around with the hem of your sweater. "Did we piss you off or something?" You could hear his tone was rather joking, well, partly. There was a hint of seriousness in it.

You shook your head no. "None of that, Kyle, I just... well... just needed some time for myself, is all." It was half-true.

Kyle looked over at the table you were sitting on and the laughter that came from it made you give out a tired sigh. "Unfortunately that wasn't possible," you added. Kyle chuckled a bit and you couldn't help but smile.

He gestured to his table. "Come on then. You don't need to suffer."

You shook your head. "No, I need to go to the library anyway. But I'll see you guys around." You waved goodbye and quickly made your way out of the cafeteria. Once you were out of sight, you pressed your back against the wall for a moment.

This wasn't going exactly as you had hoped.

**~Timeskip~**

The first two days were really slow. Painfully slow. Sometimes you would come across Stan and Wendy and you would quickly turn and make the long way around to your classes. And the classes you had with either of them, you did your best to ignore them.

But after about a day or two, you eventually got used to your new routine. There were times when you would wave and greet the guys, even Stan whenever Wendy wasn't around.

That was it though. You hardly stuck around because you felt you weren't ready yet. It would take more than a couple of days to be able to get over the feelings you have for the Marsh boy. Not to mention the whole friends-with-benefits didn't exactly help the situation. There were times when you would remember those moments and you couldn't help the sudden shudder of delight your body would give out.

Some nights, you would need to take care of yourself because of those memories that would haunt your dreams.

God! You missed him! You missed his touch! His breath, his lips on your body, his body pressed against you!

But! You knew you had to push those thoughts in the back of your head, in the deepest corners of your mind. They weren't helping you out.

And there were a few things that actually helped keep your mind off of those things.

First, your art teacher - Mrs. Dunn - asked if you could help with some of the preparations at the auditorium for some event that was to happen soon.

"Sure, I don't mind," you had replied with a smile. Any distraction was welcomed. The next few days you had spent volunteering helped a lot. In fact, you hardly ever thought about the situation. Who would've thought Luke was right? All you needed was some time for yourself.

The second thing was the gifts and texts you would receive from your secret admirer. There were times when you still wondered who he was, but you couldn't denied that you enjoyed the mystery. Besides, this was better. Neither of you had to make any commitments to each other. You certainly weren't ready for that yet.

The end of the week has arrived. And you finished placing away some of the boxes in the back room of the stage.

"Thanks again for helping out," one of the seniors spoke to you with a gentle smile. "Honestly, I don't think we would've been able to finish without you and the other volunteers," he added.

You shrugged. "It was fun." You looked at the stage and sighed. "It's gonna suck once it's all ready. I really enjoyed being a part of something."

The senior flashed another smile. "It doesn't have to be the end for you. Why not join the Event Committee?"

"Event Committee?" you repeated as you tilted your head in confusion.

The older boy nodded. "Yeah, we handle all of the school's events, no matter how big or small. We're always welcoming and encouraging people to join, no matter what grade."

You smiled. "I'd like that."

"Great! Come over on Monday, we can discuss all you need to know. Oh! We're in room 205 and meet right after school. Don't be late!"

"I won't!" You thanked him and waved goodbye as you started walking down the stage, for once looking forward for the weekend to come to an end soon. You opened the door that led you out of the auditorium and headed down the hall.

You took out your phone to place a reminder about Monday but ended up bumping into someone. "Oh! Sorry...!" You quickly backed away when you saw Stan before you. "Hey..."

He waved. "Hey... It's been a while."

You nodded. "Yeah, it has..." There was an awkward silence for a moment. "So, um, how have you been?"

He shrugged. "Ok, I guess..."

"You look... tired." You couldn't help but notice the slight dark circles under his eyes. "Is coach making you guys train more than usual again?"

"Part of the reason yeah. I also have a test coming up in Geometry and I'm... not doing so well in that class." You remained quiet for a moment, not sure if you should bring up Wendy. Though you didn't need to...

"Wendy's been trying to help me out but... it's only been a bigger pain."

"Sorry to hear that." You hoped you sounded sincere. "Guess trouble in paradise is common for the both of you." You realized that probably sounded a bit harsh. "S-Sorry..."

"No, it's alright. You're not the only one that thinks so." He scoffed. "The guys have already told me not to even bother them with the same old story. Some friends..."

_Well... it can get a bit annoying hearing the same thing over and over again..._

You pushed those thoughts away. "Um, well, you know, I guess if you want you can always come and talk to me..." You shifted your weight from one foot to the other. "I mean, we're still friends, right?"

"Yeah..." He looked at your eyes with his beautiful blue ones. "I've missed you."

You gave a small and friendly smiled. "I miss you guys too."

Another awkward silence between the both of you. "Want me to, you know, give you a ride home?" he asked.

"Um... well... I guess it wouldn't hurt..." you stated, though not exactly certain if it was a good idea. "Let me just check that I have..." You pulled your backpack to check inside and almost dropped everything, but Stan quickly reacted as he moved in closer to you, his hands on yours as he helped stop your books from falling.

You both looked at each other. You could feel your cheeks flaring up and your heart beating quickly against your chest. You instantly felt your knees almost weakened as you stared at his beautiful blue eyes. You had expected him to pull away, had hoped he would since you were too overwhelmed by his scent, almost instantly the memories that you had worked so hard to bury in your mind came rushing back.

Stan moved his hand and gently pushed a bit of your hair behind your ear as he looked at you. There was a hint of lust in his eyes as they seemed to stared at your face, he looked as if he had been lost in thought for that moment. His thumb brushed against your lips, making you quiver a bit.

Did he want to kiss you?!

"St-Stan..." Eventually you managed to come back to your senses and lightly pushed yourself away from him, your hands gripped your backpack tightly. "I... should go home."

The Marsh boy nodded as he scratched the back of his neck. "Um... yeah, well, I'll still..."

"N-No..." you interrupted. "I'll walk."

"Huh? No, there's no need to." He reached out for you, but you backed away and immediately regretted it as you saw his expression twisted into one of hurt. "You shouldn't waste your time. Go home and rest," you added with a sweet tone.

Stan wasn't convinced though as he moved closer to you, this time your stayed in place as he reached over and placed his hand on your shoulder. "I..."

"Stan, please," you pleaded as you managed to pulled away and backed away, only to bump into something.

"She said, she wants to go."

You quickly turned to see Craig Tucker standing behind you. It was the closest he has been to you, so you were able to immediately catch the scent of his cologne - or perhaps it was aftershave. Whatever it was, it had a really nice scent to it.

"Craig, what do you want?" Stan asked.

He ignored his question. "She doesn't wanna go with you, leave her alone. You're coming off as desperate and a pervert."

"How is this any of your business?" Stan questioned.

You stood there, between these two tall boys and weren't sure what to even do. But you did know two things. You didn't need Craig Tucker to 'rescue' you from anything and you weren't planning on leaving with Stan either!

After a second of that, you pushed past Craig and started making your way towards the stairwell. You heard Stan call out to you, but you ignored him and simply left.

That was an unpleasant situation.

**###**

Why did Craig came up to you and Stan? You knew they both knew each other since the 3rd grade and even hung out once in a while.

But... why would he defend you? Since when did he even care? You've never even spoken to him, at least, not since the eighth grade...

Your phone buzzed again. Stan had texted you three times, but you refused to open the messages since you had a feeling you wouldn't be able to hold yourself together if you saw his words.

It was only four-thirty. You didn't have any responsibilities to do today. That was a good thing.

**Your head hurt and all you wanted was to just close your eyes and take a nice long nap...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I apologize that it's rather short. ^^;  
>  Lately been having a bit of writer's block. But am still working on this story and do always think about further chapters. <3 Thank you again my readers, love you all**


	12. |The Mall|

**You groaned as you heard the sound of your phone waking you up.**

You looked at the clock on your nightstand to see it was close to 8 in the evening. You hadn't bothered to check the caller ID and answered your phone.

"Huh? Yeah?"

"Where the hell are you?!"

Your sleep slowly started fading as you rubbed your eyes to rid of the remainder of the feeling. "Mmm, Luke?"

"Why haven't you picked me up?!"

You arched a brow, confused as you sat up. "Huh? Picked you up...? Wasn't mom...?"

"Didn't you get her message?!"

"Message?"

Silence from his end. "Are you ok? You sick?"

"Mm? No, no, just..." You trailed off as you collected your thoughts. "What's going on?"

"You were supposed to pick me up at 7. Mom sent you a message and tried calling you, then she called me when you didn't responded. I told her we were home and that your phone died..."

You were shocked to find that out as the news was able to wake you up. "Oh shit...! Luke I'm..."

"Don't apologize, just come and pick me up already." After that he hung up. You sighed and quickly stood up, grabbed your coat, and slipped it on as you ran out of the room and downstairs. As you walked outside you locked the door and rushed over to the direction that'll lead you to where Luke was.

How could you have slept through your mother's phone calls and messages? You'd never done that before. You must had been really tired. You hated walking down the cold streets at this hour. The town wasn't... that dangerous. But it still creep you out being out when the sun was pretty much down.

The sudden honk of a car made you slow down as you turned to see a familiar vehicle come to a stop close by. The window rolled down and he called your name, you smiled at the familiarity. "Kenny?"

"What're you doing out here?" he asked.

"I'm heading over to pick up Luke..." You replied.

"Pick him up? This late?"

You bit your bottom lip. "I... sorta fell asleep..." Your cheeks burned as you felt embarrassed confessing that. "Look, I gotta hurry! He convinced my mom that I had already picked him up, last thing I want is for her to worry."

"Well, I can offer you a ride."

"Oh no, I couldn't..."

"I'm not letting you walk all the way over there at this hour," he said with a smile. "Come on."

"Mm, when you put it that way," you said as you accepted his offer and gladly stepped into his car. You ran your fingers through your hair as you looked at your phone to see the missed messages and the phone call before Luke's.

"Something wrong?"

You looked over at Kenny for a moment then to the road as he drove. "What do you mean?" you asked.

"This usually never happens to you. You must've been really tired to have overslept."

"Well, I have been a bit busy afterschool."

"With what?" he asked.

"I've been helping out the Event Committee this past week."

"Oh? Really?" he asked.

You nodded as you stared at the road. "It's helped me... with some stuff. So I've been enjoying it, honestly."

"Well, I'm glad it's something you've been enjoying," he stated in a sweet tone.

"Thank you."

The rest of the ride was silent. It didn't took long for you to arrive at your destination. Luke was ready by the time you arrived, you apologized to the parents that lived there and waved goodbye.

**~Your House~**

The car ride there had been quiet. You couldn't think of what to say. Luke seemed more annoyed than angry. As soon as Kenny parked the car Luke stepped out and was walking towards the house. You quickly ran after him.

"Luke!" You placed a firm hand on his shoulder and turned him to face you and you knelt to his eye-level. "I'm sorry... I know I was irresponsible and I should've been paying attention but I just..." - "I'm sorry..." You looked up at him. He was staring at you with firm eyes.

"Wait, why're you apologizing?" you asked, not understanding what was happening.

He sighed. "I was really angry that you hadn't showed up. I kept thinking how irresponsible you were and how I shouldn't be covering for you! And that I should tell Mom the truth..."

You looked down. He wasn't technically wrong.

"But this isn't your responsibility." You looked up at him again. "You don't have to help mom with this. But you do, not because you have to, but because you want to. I shouldn't be putting all the blame on you. This was my fault too. I should've asked you if you were busy or something before deciding to go over to my friend's in the last minute..."

You felt a bit bad. You knew you didn't had to, but you couldn't help it. "Hey, it's not your fault. It's both of ours. How about, from now on, no more last minute changes! Alright?" You smiled as you stroke his hair.

Luke gave a small smile and nodded. "Ok."

"Let's go inside. I'll order us some pizza for dinner." He nodded as you opened the door and he stepped inside. You turned to Kenny, whom stood a few feet from you. "You wanna stay for dinner?"

Kenny smiled and nodded. He locked his car doors and stepped inside.

You explained to Luke that the past week you have been helping out the Event Committee and had even been offered to join their little club.

"That's great that you're starting to distract yourself with something," Luke remarked. "Why haven't you told mom or me?"

You shrugged. "It was temporary so I didn't see a point in bringing it up. But today, Lance told me if I wanted to, I could join the committee and help out with more events."

Kenny smiled your way. "I think that's great. You have a good eye for bringing life to a set. The colors, the decorations, all that stuff that I don't get."

You giggled a bit at his words. "I'll start getting everything ready." The doorbell rang as you're entering the kitchen. "Oh! That must be the pizza!"

"You get the door, I'll get everything ready," Kenny offered as he walked towards the kitchen.

"Thanks! Paper plates are on top of the fridge!" You called out before you headed over to the coffee table and grabbed the money to pay. You opened the door and received a surprise. "Stan?"

The black-haired teen had a small smile as he greeted with a soft "Hey".

Luke walked up to the door. "Stan, nice to see you again."

"Back at you little guy." There was a moment of silence between the both of you. "Um, so that'll be..."

"Oh! Yeah!" You handed him the money and took the pizza. "Um, I thought today was your day off."

"I'm filling in for someone," he stated. Luke took the pizza from you and walked away. "Hey, so about earlier..." he whispered.

Your name is called and you turned to see Kenny walked out of the kitchen and placed the plates and cups on the table. He smiled as he saw Stan and waved. "Hey Stan. I didn't think you worked today. That smells good." He opened the box and helped Luke serve.

You turned to Stan again. "Um, good luck. You better head back now. Have a good weekend, alright?" He didn't say anything as he just nodded and headed back to his truck. You waved goodbye and closed the door, locking it.

"Two pieces?" Kenny asked you and you nodded with a "Yes, please."

The three of you decided to watch something while you ate. You didn't really cared what, so you let Kenny and Luke pick whatever they wanted. They chose to watch 'The Avengers'. How long had it been since you even watched anything like that? You couldn't really say. And whenever you and Luke did, you always ended up losing track at what was happening.

Halfway through the movie, you felt Luke's head on your arm and saw that he had fallen asleep. You heard Kenny chuckled softly and looked at him. "I'll take him to his room," he whispered.

"Thanks," you said softly as Kenny carefully picked him up, he made sure not to wake up the boy. "It's the one closest to the stairway, on the right." You watched as he headed upstairs. You turned your attention back to the movie, not really sure what was happening. You heard your phone and picked it up to see a message from 'Secret Admirer'.

**= I saw the set. It looks great. =**

You smiled as you started to text back.

**= Were you there while we were decorating or you saw it after we finished for the day? =**

A few seconds before a response. **= Would it be creepy if I watched while you were there? =**

You thought for a moment, then texted back. **= A little lol =**

**= Then no =**

You giggled a bit as you were about to reply. "Who're you texting?" You nearly leaped off the couch as Kenny slumped himself beside you. You slipped your phone into your pants pocket and shrugged.

"Just a friend," you replied.

"One of the girls?" he asked.

You shook your head. "No. Why?"

"I just thought you probably got chummy with them since that day they sat with you at lunch," he remarked.

"Mm, no. I really don't think I have anything in common with any of them." Well, except for maybe Wendy, but that was something you definitely were not going to admit. Especially since you didn't wish to keep having those feelings. You checked the time and saw it was close to 10. "You better head home now, Kenny. I don't want you out there this late at night."

The blond nodded. "Yeah, I should." You both stood up from the couch and you walked him to the door. Before he opened it, he faced you again. "Thanks for having me over for dinner."

You smiled sweetly. "Any time. And, thanks for helping me with Luke today. I think he had fun having someone to talk with. He may not admit it, but being the only guy in the family, he does tend to feel a bit alone."

Kenny chuckled. "That explains why he easily took to us without a second thought." He slipped his hands in his parka's pockets. You giggled. It was true. Despite the boys being the cause of majority of South Park's troubles, Luke never seemed to dislike them. Aside from Cartman, he thought your friends were fun. And he seemed to get along well with Ike as well.

The both of you walked out to his car and he unlocked it, but turned to look at you before opening the door. "You doing anything on the weekend?"

You shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Kenny looked at you. "I was just wondering if maybe, if you have time, that maybe we could hang out tomorrow?"

"Oh." You had not expected him to want to hang out with you more. Then again, you never really thought about Kenny... or many of the guys for that matter. Except for Stan. You were about to reply with a no, but felt that maybe going out on a Saturday wasn't actually a bad idea. "Mm, well, I was planning on going to the mall. You know, do some shopping maybe."

Kenny smiled. "Well, we can get something to eat there! You know, after you get what you need and stuff. And we can maybe, just, hang out."

"Sounds nice," you remarked with a friendly smile.

"Great! It's a date!" he said in his usual lively tone which made you laugh a bit as you playfully smacked his arm.

"Fine, whatever you say, Kenny."

"I'll pick you up tomorrow. Is 11 alright? Or too early? Or late?"

You shook your head. "It's fine. 11 it is."

"Great! Then, see you at 11!" You waved goodbye at each other and watched as he got in his car and drove off. Once he was out of sight you closed the door and locked it. You stretched out your arms and cleaned up the plates and cups, put away the leftovers and then took a nice hot shower before you headed to bed.

**~Next Morning~**

You were finishing brushing your hair when you heard a knock on your door. "Come in!" The door opened and your mother walked in. You smiled sweetly at her. "Mom, everything alright? You need me today?"

She shook her head. "No, it's fine. I actually came to give you this." She grabbed your hand and placed something on your palm. When she pulled her hand away you saw it was money.

"Oh! Mom, no. It's ok, I still have some money from my babysitting jobs," you assured as you tried to return the money, only for her to close your fingers around the cash and shook her head.

"Sweetie, please take it. You already refused to accept payment for taking care of Luke, let me help you with this."

"But, it's not like I'm buying anything necessary..." you remarked.

She patted your closed hand. "It doesn't matter. I want you to take it. Please. I want you to. If it makes you feel better, think of it as an allowance, just like when you were younger."

You sighed, knowing she wouldn't accept no for an answer and nodded. You had talked with your mom earlier when you woke up and saw her already cooking breakfast for the three of you. Of course, you told her about your plans and though you had told her you could cancel, she had insisted you go out and enjoy yourself. You hated how sometimes she felt as if she was a burden.

You placed the money beside you. "Thanks mom."

She smiled as she reached over and placed a loose strand of hair behind your ear. It was a habit of hers back when you used to have your hair cover most of your face. "I'm glad you made time to do something you enjoy. And don't be afraid to tell me if you need to stay after school. We'll work everything out."

You hadn't said anything. All you did was hugged her. That's all you wanted right now. She hugged back and you both stayed like that for a while before pulling apart. "Alright then. I'll be home all day, if anything changes, I'll let you know, ok?"

"Yeah, ok." You nodded as you replied. "I won't take long anyway." Your phone chimed and you checked to see a message from Kenny. You stood up and grabbed your purse. You slipped the money inside. You gave yourself one more look in the mirror to check if you looked decent.

Today was unusually warm, so you didn't need your jacket. You wore black sweatshirt, the sleeves reaching just past your elbows and a pair of high-waist blue jeans and your usual sneakers. "I'll see you later mom." You gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked out of your room. "Bye Luke!" you shouted and headed down the stairs. You made sure you had your keys and then unlocked the door and stepped outside. You made sure the door was locked and walked over to Kenny.

"This is a surprise," you said, surprised to see him not with his usual orange parka. Kenny stared at you for a moment before he replied. "Huh? Oh! Well... today's kinda warm so didn't want to be carrying that thing around."

You nodded. "Yeah, same reason I didn't wore my coat." You studied what he was wearing. A long-sleeved white shirt and an orange over-shirt that had a hoodie and a pair of dark blue jeans along with his usual sneakers.

"Well then, shall we get going?" he asked as he opened the passenger door for you.

"Thank you!" You smiled as you stepped in and buckled up. Soon after he got in he drove off.

**~South Park Mall~**

"You hungry? We could eat first," you asked as you both stepped into the air-conditioned building.

Kenny looked over at you and shook his head. "Nah, we could go and get what you need first."

You shrugged. "Ok. If you don't mind." You both walked further inside the building. You walked into a book store first. You wanted to check and see what there was available. Sure, most people now read online and stuff, but you somewhat enjoyed having a good book in your hands instead. It felt nice in a way. You bought one and then the both of you headed off to an electronics store.

Kenny and you enjoyed listening to some of the music that was being promoted for new albums and checked some of the new things they had. You weren't really planning on buying anything. This kind of stuff was really expensive and your phone still worked as good as when you first got it so you had no plans on changing it.

After walking around the mall a bit longer and finished exploring some stores at the 2nd floor, you both agreed to now head to the cafeteria for something to eat.

"I've been meaning to ask, the guys had no plans today?"

"Mm, yeah, I think they did."

"Strange you wouldn't go along," you said with a giggle.

Kenny was silent for a second. "Mm, well, to be honest, things haven't been that fun without you."

You rolled your eyes. "I highly doubtful that. You boys always have fun, even when I'm not around." You looked at the blond and noticed as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I wasn't speaking for everyone." There's another silence between the both of you. "I just, miss having you around, you know?"

"Oh..." You weren't sure what to say. Kenny had always came off as this playful idiot that flirted with you for fun, but never meant anything by it. It was the reason you never felt uncomfortable with him since you knew he'd never try anything. You were friends. And you liked it that way. You had no plans in wanting to ruin that.

Kenny's voice interrupted your thoughts, "Look, I've been meaning to say something and I know that if I don't say it now, I'll probably chicken out again."

You stopped walking and looked over at him. "What is it?"

He said your name rather softly. You weren't sure what was wrong with him, but you hoped it wasn't anything bad. "I..."

"Kenny!" You looked over at the direction the voice came from. By a fountain stood Kyle, Stan, and Cartman. Kyle called out to you as well and waved you both to get closer. You noticed Stan looked a bit annoyed.

You heard Kenny muttered "Why now?" but didn't asked why. He looked at you. "If you want we could just walk away."

You shook your head. "Nah, go say hi. I'll be there." You pointed at the store behind him. "I wanna check out some clothes anyway. See you in a bit." You turned to the guys again and waved at them before you walked inside.

After about five minutes you turned towards the window that faced the fountain and your eyes widened at the sight of Wendy holding on to Stan's arm. You saw them group was headed into the store you were in and cursed under your breath. You did not feel like pretending to listen to anything Wendy said! You walked away from the windows and headed deeper into the store, hoping to be able to avoid them. You hid by some of the racks that held blouses and saw them by the entrance. You swallowed hard as you heard Kenny called out your name. You felt bad, but you were not going to spend your whole Saturday with that horrible pit in your stomach!

Wendy separated from the group and was heading your direction. You rushed further back by the shelves and made sure not to be seen by her. You were about to leave from one direction when you heard Cartman's voice and from behind was Wendy, talking to Stan most likely. You cursed as you felt trapped. You could go through the middle, but Kyle and Kenny would probably spot you.

And what excuse would you give?!

_Sorry, but don't wanna hang out as long as Wendy's here?!_

That sounded so harsh, even if it was just in your mind. The voices got closer and you felt like a rat that was about to be pounced by a cat. A small gasp escaped your throat as you felt your body be yanked and suddenly a door is slammed. You're about to cry for help when a hand is placed on your mouth, a very quiet "Shh" beside your ear made your body shiver.

"They'll hear us..." he whispered. You stayed still once you recognized the voice. Your back is pressed against his rather well-toned chest as he inched closer to the door. You could see his profile and the beautiful cobalt blue eyes that always seemed to burn anyone he stared at. He slowly let you go and grabbed the doorknob, but before he opened it, he looked at you for a quick second and then opened it slightly and peeked outside.

"Um..."

"Wait here." He didn't wait for you to answer as the door closed. You stood there, frozen in surprise. Why did he scared you that way?! Did he see you avoiding Stan and the others? Will he ask questions?

You frowned. It wasn't any of his business anyway! So you wouldn't have to answer anything! But he did helped you... The door opened and you looked up to see him holding it open. "Come on, unless you want me to lock you in there." You didn't speak as you walked out of the room. You turned to see it was a supply closet as he closed the door and locked it. For the first time you noticed he was wearing a sort of uniform.

A nice white buttoned shirt, the top button was undone - no surprise there - and a pair of black dress pants and dress shoes. He looked rather... handsome. You blushed a bit at that thought as you turned away and rubbed your arm. "Um... thanks for helping me out there..."

Craig shrugged. "You were standing by the door. It was easier to just hide you than to have you all talk there." You remained quiet. What else could you say? "You should probably stay here for a while. You know, to avoid bumping into them if you want to avoid them."

You looked at your feet for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right." You followed Craig back to the front of the store floor and stopped as he headed behind the counter. "Um, you sure I won't be in the way?"

"You will. Best to stay here with me so you won't bother the customers or the other workers," he said bluntly. Same old Craig. "Here, you can sit here." You looked to see a stool by the counter. "It'll be fine. I'll be on my break in about ten minutes. I'll just tell the others you're waiting for me."

Waiting for him? That sure brought back memories. You nodded. "Thanks." And took a seat on the stool as Craig worked. Nobody seemed to mind you just being there. You guessed the workplace was rather nonchalant about it. You turned to look at Craig. He had his usual cold expression and spoke in his usual monotonous tone as he rang up customers or answered their questions. After a while you noticed it was mostly girls your age that seemed to "need help" with something. It didn't surprised you, Craig was a good-looking guy. Almost every girl in school seemed to think so.

A blonde - that looked to be a senior - walked up to the counter and smiled at him, asking for his help with something from the shelves. Craig walked off with her and her friend and you felt a bit tense now without him. He was the only one you knew here and at that moment you felt like a child that had been separated from their parents.

Suddenly your phone rang and you checked to see Kenny was calling. You decided to answer the call. "Kenny."

"Where're you? Everything ok?" He sounded a bit down.

"Sorry. I got a bit hungry and went to get something to eat," you lied. You felt bad for doing so.

"You're at the cafeteria? I'll come over in a moment."

"N-No, don't worry. I'm not there anymore. Look, don't worry about me. You can hang out with the guys, alright? I'll see you at school." You waited for him to say something, feeling nervous when he stayed quiet.

Until finally, "Ok..." was all he said before he hung up. You sighed as you slipped your phone back in your purse, feeling a bit guilty for pretty much ditching him like that. You were interrupted from your thoughts as you saw what looked to be a mocha frappuccino in front of you and looked up to see Craig was offering it to you.

"Take it. I remember how much you like these things."

You took the beverage. "Thanks." You took a sip and smiled at the delicious flavor. You looked over at him. "I can't believe you remember that..."

"It's no big deal," he said in his usual tone. "Kinda hard to forget something like that. You had a huge stupid grin when I bought you one for the first time."

"I-I did not!" You pouted and looked away. You swore you felt him smirking, but chose not to look at him. Instead you took another sip of the delicious drink. It sure did bring back memories of that time. And... maybe he was right. Just a bit. "M-Maybe just a bit..." you murmured, hoping he wouldn't hear it.

"Mhm, right." Of course he heard it. You blushed in embarrassment as you drank more of the mocha-flavored beverage.

You heard him moved stuff around and walked up to you. "I'm gonna get something to eat. You coming?"

You stood up and looked at your watch to see it was only 1:15 in the afternoon. You shook your head. "No thanks. I'm heading home now. I'm sure Stan and the others are long gone now." You both walked out of the store. "Thanks again, for earlier..." Nothing more was said as you walked off.

**###**

As you walked inside and closed the door you called out, "I'm home!" But there was no answer. You walked to the kitchen and saw a note on the table. You picked it up and read:

_Hey sweetie, Luke went over to a friend's house and I went to get some things from the store. Don't worry, I'll pick him up myself on my way home. Love you, Mom._

**A small smile rested on your lips as you placed the note down. "Well, might as well start some homework..."**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally another chapter. I swear I'm not going to update this once every month. ^^; I'm trying to update more often. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	13. |[Y/N]|

**Rain.**

Why did it have to be raining? Luke and you were lucky though. Your mother didn't have to go to work as early as most days, so she was able to drive you both to school.

As you stepped inside the school, you wondered what you were gonna do if Kenny came up to you.

It was rude of you to just up and leave him when the both of you had made plans on Saturday. But it's not as if you wanted to.

Still, what were you even gonna tell him if he asked?

You decided not to keep thinking about the situation. It made you feel a bit anxious and you didn't want to feel a heavy sort of burden of guilt the whole day.

As you entered your first period class and we're headed to your desk, you ended up coming face to face with Kenny.

So much for avoiding awkwardness. You were about to talk but he excused himself and walked past you.

"Take your seat Ms. Moore," your teacher spoke in his usual boring tone. You went ahead and took your usual seat. You saw Kenny had headed to the window seats and was chatting with some girls. You felt a bit hurt he would ignore you.

The bell rang and the teacher began his lesson.

**###**

You poked at the mashed potatoes with your spoon. You felt lonely.

And as if the universe heard your mind, someone walked up to your table and took a seat. You scowled, not wanting to deal with Wendy and her clique.

"Such a serious look. You look so calm when working on the set."

That familiar voice made you look up in surprise. "Lance." You smiled politely as you put your fork down. "Hey, what're you doing here?"

He shrugged. "You looked like you needed the company."

"I didn't even know you had this lunch period."

He chuckled. "I don't. Free period. I was actually making my way to the auditorium to see if the set could use any other touches. You know, to bring up at the meeting later."

"Are there others from the club there?"

He nodded. "Just two others. Also seniors." His eyes suddenly lit up. "You wanna come along? Since it looks like you're not exactly hungry."

"Sure!" You didn't even need to think twice before answering. Lance stood up and grabbed your lunch tray. You grabbed your bag and slipped it over one shoulder. You both made your way to a trashcan and he dumped the contents in and placed the tray with others before you both headed out and made your way towards your destination.

In your current excitement, you had not realize three different sets of eyes had watched you leave with this senior.

**~** **Afterschool** **~**

Meeting the two senior members of the Event Committee was nice. They both were fun, though they threw some jokes about Lance taking an interest in you. He laughed and reminded them that he was happily involved with a fellow senior and she wouldn't be happy to hear them joke like that. He even showed you a picture of her and you smiled. "She looks so pretty." You recognized her from one of your classes. Cheerful gal, tutors those that are younger in the library, and is also rumored to easily win Prom Queen at the end of the school year.

After a bit of chattering, the four of you inspected the set and you were put in charge of writing down the small ideas that were shared to discuss later. You were glad you accepted Lance's invitation instead of staying and moping about at lunch period.

You were on your way to the classroom they meet when Kenny suddenly appeared before you from around the corner of the hall.

Before you could speak, he spoke up. "Hey... Listen, I need to talk to you."

You gave a small smile. "That... makes me happy."

"It... does?"

You nodded. "I was really bummed with how I left things on Saturday. It was rude of me to do that to you Kenny and I'm really sorry!"

The blond smiled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, don't worry about that. It's behind us."

"So, friends again?" You asked, your tone filled with hope.

Kenny nodded. "Yeah..."

"Great! I'm really glad that..." - "I like you!" He blurted out. You were left with a surprised expression.

"I like you too..." You really hoped he meant the way you meant it.

Kenny shifted his weight a bit as he slipped his hands in his parka's pockets. "No, I mean... I like like you. I have for a while and I've been meaning to ask you out for some time now but I never got the chance or something always came up."

You blinked, unable to even say any kind of words at the moment. So many questions were going through your head. How long has this been going on? When did it happen? Did you gave him the wrong idea?

No... You always made sure never to lead him on, even when he would be playfully flirty with you. You were vocal that you liked being friends and that was it.

"Ok, you're starting to scare me. Say something..." he stated.

After a moment of collecting your thoughts, you finally were able to answer. "I'm... really sorry, Kenny. But I don't feel that way."

The blond looked down. "Ok... Not the answer I had been hoping for..."

"Kenny, I never kept it a secret that I cared about you, as a friend. Even when..."

"Yeah, I know."

You looked up at him and arched a brow, slightly confused. "Then why did you...?"

"I thought it was worth a shot..." he sighed. "I mean, I had hoped that maybe, there was a possibility in there. Or that maybe you would give me a shot..." He looked at you straight in the eyes. "I'm actually still holding on to that latter one."

"Kenny, I..."

You are interrupted by Lance and another of the committee member heading your way as he called your name. You bit your bottom lip as you looked at Kenny for a second. You felt you both needed to talk this out, but...

"It's ok. Go," he said in such a way that made you feel sad. You may not had shared the same feelings for him, but he was a friend and you did cared about him.

You looked at the other two. "Can I have a moment? Please? I'll be there in a bit," you assured.

The two committee members nodded and headed inside the classroom. You turned to your friend. "If I ever made it look like I wanted something more, I'm really sorry."

Kenny shook his head. "Ok, wow, not even a moment to think about it, huh?"

"I'm sorry," you apologized again.

He nodded. "Yeah... Me too..." He didn't say another word as he turned around and walked away.

You felt a bit guilty for rejecting him completely instead of giving him a chance at least. But...

How could you? When you had no feelings for him? And you knew that wouldn't change.

**###**

You had thought that you wouldn't had been able to concentrate much at the committee, but if anything it helped you out.

Despite it being your first time, you were able to speak with confidence and share ideas about future events. Everyone made you feel welcomed and it made you feel comfortable that it wasn't just seniors. There were two other Juniors and three sophomores and one freshman.

But you were all treated the same when it came to speaking. Just as Lance had told you, anyone of any grade was welcomed. And you were all treated with the same respect.

After the meeting you all said your goodbyes and headed your separate ways. The seniors stayed behind and you waved goodbye to them before you headed to the stairwell and made your way downstairs.

You were in a good mood. But it was easily stripped away when you saw from the windows that it was raining.

"Damn..." You took out your phone and checked to see if you got any messages. None. Meaning Luke would be picked up by your mother. "Mm... I shouldn't make her take a detour." You slipped on your gloves and put on your hat. You wished you had brought your hooded jacket, but the weather was supposed to only be cloudy in the afternoon, not raining!

You opened the door and started heading outside. A small groan escaped your throat as you felt the drops hitting you and made your jacket slowly become heavy the wetter it got. You jogged a bit and hoped to catch the closest bus so you won't have to be out in the rain for long.

Suddenly, the rain stopped and you heard another pair of footsteps walking along with yours. You turned to see Craig standing beside you with an umbrella at hand.

"Huh? Tucker? What are you...?"

He didn't looked at you. "You wanna stay in the rain. Fine by me..." He said it but he didn't seemed to be moving anytime soon. You decided not to argue as you both kept walking.

_This feels strange... Strange, but nostalgic..._

That thought ran through your mind as you both walked in silence. You had to admit that it felt quite nice, this feeling.

You couldn't help but remember that sweet 12-year-old boy that had stood up for you against those seventh graders. And had defended you when some mean Asian girls had picked on you for... Actually, you never learned why they did and though Craig seemed to know, he never shared that information.

The flooding memories made you feel warm, it made you miss him. The Craig Tucker you used to looked forward to seeing every day you would wake up before heading to school. He would greet you with that same expression everyone saw, except there was one difference nobody but you seemed to noticed. The softness in his blue eyes when he would stare at you.

Your heart picked up pace a bit as you recalled that gaze. And his smile. The smiles that were reserved for you alone.

But...

The bad memories also flooded back. You were reminded of the reason the both of you no longer had a friendship. The memory of feeling abandoned, broken, and all alone. That feeling of anger and sadness was stronger than the good ones.

It had been for the past years. And because of that you had refused to forgive him or even talk to him ever again.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Your tone was sharper than you had intended. You also realized you had stopped walking. Craig had taken a few more steps ahead of you before he came to a halt and turned to look at you.

A noticeable scowl formed as he looked away. "Do I need a reason?"

"You're hardly nice to anyone," you reminded. You looked away, wondering if to just leave. You heard a murmur and turned to him. "What was that?" you asked.

Craig looked at you with his usual cold eyes. The same way he looked at everyone in the world.

You hated it.

"I said you're the one that decided to stay away."

Your eyes widened, surprised at his words. "I...!" You stopped yourselves, fuming that he even dared to say that when he knew exactly why! "No. You know what, there's no point in it. It's obvious that you don't give a shit at all, just like 3 years ago..."

He looked as if he wanted to speak but you didn't give him a chance. "Don't! There's no point in even trying. Everything was said back then. You don't have to worry about me Tucker. I won't annoy you with my petty problems anymore." You didn't wait for his response as you speed walked off in the rain.

You didn't know where you were going. All you knew was that you wanted to be by yourself.

**###**

_The town looked as if it was sliding past you._

_"Everything alright princess?"_

_You looked up at your father, his brown eyes glanced for a moment at the rear view mirror to look at you._

_A small smile formed on your lips as you nodded. "Yes..."_

_"You sure? You were gripping your schoolbag tightly." He chuckled a bit, his gaze on the road._

_You looked down at your hands to see that he was telling the truth. You gave a small, almost inaudible laugh as you relaxed a bit. "I guess I'm a bit scared."_

_"Nothing wrong with that. New town. New school." You looked out the window again, feeling anxious. "New friends."_

_That caught your attention as you looked at your father. "What if nobody likes me?"_

_"Mm." You could tell he had smiled. He always did after that small hum. "They will. The ones that do are because they see you for who you are."_

_You couldn't help the genuine smile that grew on your lips. He always did this. Made you feel like everything will be ok._

**_###_ **

_"If you start feeling anxious, I'll come pick you up."_

_You nodded as your father gave you a tight hug and a kiss on the head before he headed out of the office with a smile and a wave._

_Once the door closed and you were left alone with the lady behind the counter, you felt alone and a bit frightened. The woman behind the counter was nice though. She had patiently explained all you needed to know as she handed you a schedule, a school calendar, and a paper with your locker number and the combination of the lock._

_"Come on. I'll take you to your classroom," she offered with a kind smile._

**_###_ **

_It was strange. Having all those eyes on you. You hardly heard the woman introducing you as you could only focus on the many faces of your classmates. How many of them would even bother getting to know_ _you?_

_You felt the woman's hand gently pat your shoulder as she gave one more smile before she left the room._

_"You can take a seat right over there, beside... Nichole, raise your hand please." You saw a dark-skinned girl with a yellow sweater and black hair tied in puffy pigtails raised her hand, a friendly smile on her round face._

_You made your way towards your desk and sat down. You felt some of your classmates were still staring at you before the teacher called for their attention to the board._

_As you took out your notebook, your pencil fell and slid a bit to the side. You groaned a bit as you placed your schoolbag below your desk and leaned a bit to try and reach for it, only for someone else to grab it. You looked up to see a pair of cobalt blue eyes staring at you as he offered you your pencil._

_You reached for it, your fingers lightly grazed his. He felt warm. "Thank you..." you said softly to not interrupt the lecture._

_The boy's bored expression didn't change as he straightened back on his chair. Before he returned his attention to the teacher, he flipped you off._

_Well... That was definitely uncalled for..._

_When lunch time rolled around, you felt a bit anxious. You knew you couldn't really walk up to anybody's table as if you were part of their group. Not to mention that everybody here seemed to know everybody else. Many were chattering about their daily lives, unimportant stuff, and just random things in general._

_You found a free table and were relieved that you wouldn't have to humiliate yourself._ _You took your seat and took out your lunch that your mom packed for you._

_A few seconds later some older students came up to your table. "Hey! You!" You looked up at the tall boy before the table, arms crossed and a scowl on his face as he looked down at you. "This here's our table, shrimp! You best have a good excuse why you're sitting here!"_

_A small frown formed on your lips. Trouble was definitely something you didn't wish for. As you were standing up, the tallest, somewhat awkward-looking boy forced you back on to the hard bench, which made you give out a soft cry at the pain that went through you._

_"Who said you were free to leave, sixth-grade shrimp?"_

_You could just shout, hope that a teacher would noticed and come to your rescue. But... that could also make things worse. What if they lied?_

_"You just gonna sit there, shrimp?" the boy asked you as he pulled a bit of your hair up. You winced, but this time managed to hold in your cry._

_"Looks like the seventh graders aren't as tough as they pretend to be." A monotonous voice spoke up. The tall one released you as he turned with a growl. You looked over to see the boy from your classroom. The one that had flipped you off._

_"What you said to me?" the seventh grader asked as he walked over to the boy. His other friends all now had their eyes on him. You felt a tap on your shoulder and looked over to see a brunet in a red jacket. He placed his index finger over his lips and you knew it meant for you to keep quiet. He took a hold of your hand and pulled you away from the table._

_"Wait, what about...?" You began to ask, but a sudden shout, "FOOD FIGHT!!" interrupted you and both of you quickened your pace. You slightly turned your head to try and see the boy in blue, but there was food flying and many others blocked your view as you were dragged out of the cafeteria._

_After you turned a corner, you bumped into the brunet that had now released your hand. "Sorry," you apologized. You looked over to see another boy before him, a darker-skinned one that was taller than you and the boy that had pulled you away from the cafeteria. "What just...?"_

_"Sorry for the scare," the darker-skinned boy spoke._

_The brunet nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it all happened so fast, but hey, I got you outta there," he remarked._

_You looked at them both. "Um, why did you...?"_

_"Craig," the brunet replied before you finished your question. He scratched the back of his head as he looked at his friend. "He must really like her."_

_You couldn't help but blush at those words. "Huh?"_

_"Well, she is cute," the other one stated as if it was a fact. You had no idea what to even say so you simply thanked them again and made your way down the hallway._

_Craig. The boy that had picked up your pencil and then flipped you off for no particular reason, rescued you from the seventh graders._

_"Mm, well, I should at least thank him when I see him..."_

_**###** _

_You waited by the front door when you heard your father calling out. You turned to see him waving. "Dad!" You rushed and threw your arms around him._

_"Hey, sweet pea? How was your first day of school?"_

_You let go of him and looked up, smiling. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be."_

_He chuckled. "See? I told you it would be alright. Well then, let's go. We have to pick up Luke from daycare and then head home. Your mother has a nice dinner planned for our first day at our new home."_

_"But..." You looked over at the school building, still no sight of the boy called Craig._

_"What is it? Did you forget something?"_

_"Someone did something really nice for me and I wanted to thank him."_

_Your father smiled. "You made a friend?"_

_Did you really? You weren't sure. But you couldn't help but nod at him as you replied, "Yeah. I guess I did."_

_The following day you stepped into the classroom to see the familiar boy in blue, chatting with the two boys from yesterday and another one you didn't recognize. You swallowed the small lump that had formed in your throat as you walked over to them. You wanted to thank him, though you wondered if he even cared enough to remember. But if he didn't, then why would he had even gotten involved? You decided not to think too much about it as you kept walking towards his desk._

_"Look." You managed to hear the brunet whispered as he pointed at you. Craig turned to look at you in his usual bored expression._

_"What?" His tone was just as yesterday, monotonous, lacking any sort of emotion. It made it hard to tell if he was annoyed at you or not._

_There was about two seconds of silence before you finally spoke out. "Thank you, for yesterday."_

_Another two, maybe three seconds of silence as you waited for his response. He shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. Just try not to get in their way again. Detention with Mr. Mackey isn't the most fun."_

_Your eyes widened a bit. "I-I'm sorry! You got in trouble because of me..." you apologized again._

_Craig gave a small scoff. "Stop apologizing. I wanted to do it."_

_"But... why?" you asked._

_He looked over at his three friends that quickly turned away, pretending not to be eavesdropping. Though none of them made the effort to walk away. You looked at Craig and waited for an answer, if he would give one._

_"I like your eyes."_

_Before you could ask, the bell rang and the teacher asked for everyone to go to their seats. You quickly took yours, not wanting to get in trouble in your second day of school. The teacher began his lesson, but you couldn't stop the heat on your cheeks as Craig's response lingered in your mind._

_Later that day, it was a surprise when Craig had walked up next to you at lunchtime. "Come on." You weren't sure what to say. Or what to do. So you decided to just follow. You rushed until you walked beside him_ _._

_"Hey!" the brunet greeted you with a charming smile once you both reached a_ _lunch table_ _. You felt Craig tugged you by the arm a bit and you looked over at him._

_"Sit with me." It wasn't a question as he took a seat across from the other three. You went ahead and did as he told you and placed your lunchbox on the table._

_"Name's Clyde," the brunet introduced himself. "This here's Token..." the one beside him waved and smiled politely, followed with a "Nice to meet you"._

_You waved back. "Hello."_

_Clyde pointed at the one beside Token. "And that there's Jimmy."_

_"It's a p-p-pleasure to m-make your a-acquaintance," the slightly crossed-eyes boy greeted in a stutter._

_You nodded. "Same."_

_Clyde pointed at Craig. "And you already know Craig there."_

_You looked at the boy with cobalt-blue eyes and noticed he was staring at you. That made you look down at your lunch, feeling the warm feeling on your cheeks again. "It's... nice to meet all of you."_

_"If anybody bothers you again, just come to me. If I'm not here, look for these losers," Craig remarked. You were surprised at his offer, but nodded anyway._

_Did he like your eyes that much?_

_"So where you from?"_

_"What do you like to do?"_

_"D-Do y-you l-l-like j-j-jokes?"_

_The boys asked you questions, it made you feel somewhat nervous having all of this attention from them. Besides, you felt as if your answers weren't the most interesting. At first you replied with a simple "Yes" or "No". Eventually you started to get a bit more comfortable and gave more than one-word answers and even started asking them some of your own._

_That was your first lunch with your newest friends._

_**###** _

_Your time in South Park has been an interesting one. Shortly after you had moved, you and your family had witnessed some of the town's idiocy, which always caused some kind of danger of a kind. Though there were times where the root of it all were four boys your age._

_"They're always causing these kinds of things," Craig had told you once. "Don't trust them if they ever promise you anything with money."_

_According to Craig, things were a lot worse back then. Aliens, people aiming for power like movie villains, overall strange disasters, and... Guinea Pigs? So that wasn't a strange dream?!_

_Despite that, the two groups did hung out once in a while. And you got to meet the notorious group of boys that were Cartman, Kyle, Stan, and Kenny._

_Strange boys, but nice. Well, except for Cartman whom threw insults at everyone every chance he got. They did have their good qualities, even Cartman._

_But you couldn't deny that you enjoyed spending time with Craig and the guys more than with the whole group itself._

_It was fun, listening to the many stories of crazy events and some you remembered witnessing yourself. You even told Craig about it and you both would laugh about it. Well, you laughed, he would smirk and let out a small chuckle here and there._

_You had noticed them staring again. It wasn't new. This was something they seemed to do. You never knew why. But that day they had walked up to you and surrounded you._

_"Um... You need something?"_

_"Don't get your hopes up," one of them spoke. Her voice slightly high-pitched, a bit of a thick accent on her._

_"About what?" You asked, confused about this._

_"You're nothing special to him. He only hangs out with you because..."_

_You heard your name from a recognizable voice and felt a wave of relief at that moment. The girls all stepped aside for a moment._

_Craig was by your side now as he looked over at them._

_"What do you want?" You could hear a hint of anger and irritation mixed in his tone. It was a bit strange, you were so used to his monotonous voice. One of the girls spoke a foreign language and the rest followed suit._

_"Cut the crap. Everyone in school knows you speak and understand English," he stated._

_"We don't know what you're talking about," the same girl spoke. "We only wanted to make friends. Share some stories... Maybe draw together. You like to draw... Don't you?"_

_The others giggled. You felt Craig tense up beside you, the air around him became somewhat uneasy. It_ _was clear what they said made him upset._

_Before you could let out a word, Craig spoke,_ _"Let's go." He tugged at your arm for a second as he walked away. You had to run a bit to catch up to him_ _._

_After walking for a bit, you decided to break the silence._   _"Craig?"_

_"Hm?"_

_"I've been meaning to ask, do you know those girls?" For the past month and a half they had been giving you the stink eye and you hadn't even done anything to them. Never even tried talking to them since they always seemed to be speaking in their language._

_So why were they being rather hostile?_

_Not that it was only them, there were some others that would stare at you with that same expression, some even murmured about when they thought you were out of listening range._

_You felt Craig shift uncomfortably as he slowed down a bit, you now able to walk beside him. "Don't worry about them. They're... idiots."_

_"So you do know them?"_

_"Sorta..."_

_You waited for him to continue, confused as to why he was acting so strange._

_He stopped walking and looked at you. This had been the very first time he has ever stared at you with a hint of anger as if he wanted to yell at you. But he looked away_ _again._

_You lightly bit your bottom lip. Maybe you were being way too nosy. After all, you two had only known each other for almost two months. You slowly reached over and gently placed your hand on his shoulder, it made him look at you and you gave a sweet smile. "If you don't wanna talk about it, you don't have to. Whenever you're ready to share, I'll listen."_

_Craig didn't smile, but his eyes did softened and his body relaxed under your touch. You had come to realize not many noticed these kind of things about him. But you did. In the time you had been here and had been his friend, you had learned more than you had expected by just a look at his beautiful eyes. He trusted you enough to show you his emotions through them._

_He turned and scoffed. "Quit being so corny. Come on, the others are waiting."_

_You managed to suppress a giggle as you noticed a tint of pink on his cheeks before he had turned_ _away. You followed after him._

_**###** _

_You were somewhat nervous. You had been used to having Craig by your side these past five months. It felt weird not having him around._

_Why did he had to get sick on a day you had a group project in class?_

" _Hey!" You jumped on your seat a bit as you heard the voice before you. Beside you sat Stan Marsh. An overall nice boy in your eyes, but you hardly talked to him. The only time you ever even came in contact with him or his friends was when Craig and the others would hang out with them. Aside from that, you never thought much about them._

_"You ok? You sick?" he asked._

_"Um..." You shook your head. "No. Sorry, I was just distracted for a bit..."_

_"A bit? It almost looked as if your soul left your body for a brief second."_

_You gave a soft and small laugh. "The project... I'm just a bit nervous. It never gets easy..."_

_Stan gave you a friendly smile. "Hey, don't worry. We'll figure things out together, alright?"_

_You nodded, a bit of comfort washed over you when he smiled. It made you feel like you could rely on him._

_Truth be told, you were nervous because of all the troubles that he and his friends caused. They were big and small and random most of the times. One moment they could be causing minor class interruptions, the next they could be causing the whole town to nearly be destroyed... Though the latter one didn't need the_ _boys'_ _help. The town was stupid enough to do that on their own._

_"Do you like South Park so far_ _?" He asked as he wrote down an answer._

_You looked at him and shrugged. "It's definitely like none I've ever seen before," you replied. You pointed at one of the problems and suggested a solution._

_"Oh! It is," he said and wrote it down. "You miss your old home?"_

_"Sometimes. I miss old places I used to visit and I miss old friends too. But it's not so lonely since I have Craig and the others."_

_You looked at him for a moment. "What about you? Have you lived here long?"_

_"My whole life," he answered as he wrote on the sheet. "Back then though it was a much smaller town."_

_"Quiet little mountain town?" You smiled._

_He chuckled. "I never said quiet." You giggled a bit. You both had gone back and forth with your questions as you worked on the small project. S_ _lowly you got more comfortable with Stan._

_After that day you started greeting each other. It wasn't anything big. Just a wave and hello once in a while. There were some rare moments when the both of you would talk about similar interests._

_You had not expected Craig to have a small problem with it. A week after that project, you were headed to your usual table when you heard Stan called to you._

_"Wanna have lunch together?"_

_"Oh." You noticed Clyde, Token, and Jimmy on the table as well and nodded with a smile._

_But you were stopped as you felt a hand on your shoulder and looked at the familiar eyes that though cold to many, were always warm to you._

_"She's already having lunch with me."_

_"Well, we were all..."_

_Craig didn't let him finish as he lightly pushed you ahead to an empty table. You were confused as you took your seat and he sat beside you._

_He hadn't said a word. He started eating as if nothing._

_"Um..." You cleared your throat to get his attention. It worked. He turned to look at you. "Why not go and sit with everyone else?"_

_No answer. He simply chewed his food. You had a feeling he wasn't going to answer. It sort of annoyed you a bit._

_But before you could had asked again, he responded, "You shouldn't get too friendly with Stan and those idiots." He wasn't looking at you still. "They'll just find a way to screw you over. Trust me on that."_

_"But... the others..."_

_"They're screwed. But just because we already had been involved in their crap, doesn't mean I want you to get involved. You're too sweet... I don't want them messing you up."_

_You felt your cheeks warmed up. You slowly reached over, gently you placed a hand on his shoulder. This made him looked over at you. "Thanks, for looking out for me." You smiled at him._

_"Uh..._ _Y-Yeah_ _..." He turned away, but didn't attempted to remove your hand from him. "Don't mention it."_

_Though it had been quick, you had noticed a small hint of pink on his cheeks. It had made you softly giggle as you scooted closer to him and you both ate lunch._

_**###** _

_You leaped for joy as the sound of victory played through the television and exclaimed, "I win!" Your father sat on the couch as he laughed a bit._

_"You sure did."_

_You went ahead and sat down beside him. "Again! Another round!"_

_"Sweet pea, I need a moment to rest," he told you._

_You put down the control. "Ok. But once you're rested, another round?!" He nodded. "Yay!" You looked over at Luke, playing with some cars._

_"You've really taken a shine to this place."_

_"Huh?" You looked over at your father._

_He smiled. "I remember how it was you the one that didn't want to move in the first place. Even threatened to run away if we decided to move."_

_You blushed in embarrassment as you remembered that. Acting so childish when you had found out about the move. "W-Well, I didn't want to leave my friends or my home."_

_"You still miss it?"_

_"Yeah, sometimes. But... South Park feels like home too. I've made lots of friends and they are all so much fun too. I do sometimes get a bit scared when something crazy happens, but it's rare. Craig told me they used to be frequent in the old days." You giggled._

_"Mm."_

_You looked up at your father when he hummed. He had such a serious expression. "You certainly have been hanging out with this Craig a lot."_

_You smiled. "He helped me out when I needed it. And he's always so nice to me! Thanks to him, I never felt scared being in school or meeting new people! Whenever I feel a bit anxious, he makes me feel like it's nothing too bad and helps me relax."_

_"Sounds like he doesn't leave your side even for a minute," your father noted._

_"It sounds to me like somebody has a little boyfriend," your mother's sweet voice chimed in as she walked in the living room before you could even say anything._

_Your whole face turned red at that statement. "N-No!"_

_"She's too young to have a boyfriend," your father immediately remarked._

_Your mother giggled. "Nonsense honey. She's at that age where boys are noticeable. Why else would she speak so highly of this Craig?"_

_"M-Mom!" you cried out as you covered your blushing face with your hands. You felt yourself being pulled into a hug and instantly smelled your mother's perfume._

_"I'm just kidding sweetie." She kissed your cheek. "But you do seem very fond of Craig. Perhaps we should invite him and his family for dinner one day."_

_"Yeah, I guess that sounds good. Gives me a chance to see what this Craig wants with my daughter."_

_"Dad!" you exclaimed as you straightened up. "Y-You's both wrong! C-Craig is just a friend!" You heard Luke laughing a bit and scowled at the three-year-old that seemed to also be enjoying your embarrassment. You shook your head as you tried to focus. "But... it would be nice having Craig and his family for dinner," you admitted._

_Your mother smiled. "Good! You go ahead and ask Craig when his family is available." You nodded. "And, perhaps you should help me in the kitchen sweetie. After all, they say a quicker way to a man's heart is through his stomach," she teased._

_"Ahh! I-I'll be in my room!" You ran to the stairs and up to your room. You closed the door and sighed. You weren't angry, just a bit embarrassed._

_You decided to go into Facebook and ask Craig if he could come over for dinner with his family. You truly hoped he would accept the invitation._

**_~2 Years Later~_ **

_Eight grade...._

_Never have you gotten closer to anyone the way you had with Craig..._

_Your little friend group had become like a second family. They were your boys..._   _You couldn't imagine your life without them..._

_Without Craig..._

_Hell, you couldn't imagine your school life being easy without them. They made you feel like you belonged somewhere, they made you smile, made you laugh. And when you were sad, they would do their best to cheer you up. Especially Craig. He was your best friend. Even if some had warned you he was rude, a bit obnoxious, somewhat selfish, and had the habit to get into trouble... and it was all true, it didn't matter to you. Because you saw a Craig that nobody else bothered to see._

_A boy that despite all that tough exterior, was a softy at heart. He never showed it in public, but whenever he looked at you, he had this kind of softness in his blue eyes and along with that, he would give a small, but tender smile that made you feel happy._

_That softness, that smile... it was yours alone. And you loved it. It made you feel special. Craig made you feel special. You always felt safer when he was around._

_At that time, you never expected to lose not just one, but two of the most special guys in your life..._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Oh my freaking God! This took so long! One of the main reasons is cause I lost my internet for a while so I had to continue through my phone, but it was a bit tougher. And also, I had to break this into two parts since it was getting way longer than I had planned! ^^; So yeah, cliffhanger ending.**
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> **I tried not putting too much unnecessary filler, so I apologize if it feels too rushed. But if I still added more than needed, I apologized for that too. The 2nd part shouldn't take long to finish, so it should be up sooner than later.**


	14. |Painful Memories|

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **First, I wanna thank everyone that still reads this story, despite the long waits! I really appreciate every comment and every kudos. Which reminds me! Yay! 100+ Kudos! Thank you so much! TwT Now, on to the chapter!**

_**"You're leaving?"** _

_You sat up on his bed and saw him looking at you. His expression was one of sadness. "Only for the weekend," you reminded as you took a hold of his hands. "We can hang out on Thursday, all afternoon!"_

_Craig sighed as he looked at your hands with his. "Ok. You better not forget. But can it be just you and me?"_

_"Huh?"_

_"I don't wanna share you with the guys this time. I want it to just be us."_

_You couldn't suppress the giggle. Craig was like this at times. A bit selfish and clingy, but you didn't mind. Though you and the guys were all friends, the one you had formed the strongest bond with was Craig._

_You two had become inseparable that it was weird to not see you guys together!_

_Clyde, Token, and Jimmy would joke around saying how smitten Craig was, but he would only flip them off as you would blush in embarrassment._

_"Ok. It'll be just you and me for the afternoon!" you promised with a smile._

_**###** _

_"What?!" Clyde cried out. "No fair! We wanna hang out with you too!" He wrapped his arms around you as he cried._

_Token went ahead and managed to pull the blubbering mess off of you. "Thanks Token. Clyde, you're acting as if I'm leaving forever. It's just for the weekend. I'll be back Sunday night!"_

_Clyde sniffed. "Don't worry about us," Token spoke up. "We understand you and Craig wanting to spend some time together."_

_"B-But if it's just the weekend then how come Craig gets to spend all afternoon with you?!" he questioned as he wiped away his tears._

_Jimmy laughed a bit. "B-Because t_ _he_ _l-l-lovebirds_ _need their_ _p-p-privacy_ _."_

_"Sh-Shut up!" you exclaimed as a tint of red ran across your face. "Sheesh! Now because of that, I'm not messaging any of you while I'm gone!" You turned around and crossed your arms. Jimmy and Token laughed a bit while Clyde still sniffled about. You felt someone's arm around you and turned to see Token._

_"We're just kidding. You know we love you," he reminded you._

_You smiled and nodded. "Same."_

_"Hey."_

_You looked over to see the taller boy before you and smiled at him. "You ready for today?" you asked._

_Craig nodded. "You told them already?"_

_"Hmph!" You heard from Clyde and saw he had turned away from you guys._

_"Oh, you did," Craig remarked, not a hint of guilt in his tone. "Good."_

_"Clyde, I promise on Monday the first thing we'll do is hang out together," you said. It caught the brunet's attention._

_"You promise?"_

_"Of course!" you said with a smile._

_Clyde wiped his nose with his sleeve. "Ok... but you better keep that promise!"_

_"She will, now stop pestering her," Craig spoke. Despite his somewhat mean words, they weren't thrown harshly towards his friend. You could tell Craig did felt a bit bad keeping you to himself. Though you admitted you were looking forward to it._

_"We better head to class before the bell rings!" Token stated as he checked his watch and noticed most of the others were rushing off. Jimmy and him walked off. Clyde looked at you for a moment and smiled for a moment. Then he went to Craig and whispered something, causing Craig to smack his friend on the back of the head as he ran off._

_"Idiot," he said stoically._

_You moved closer. "What did he say?"_

_He shook his head. "Nothing worth repeating." He looked at you and gave a small smile. "So, we meet after school?"_

_You nodded. "Uh-huh. We'll head straight to my place to finish homework and then the rest of the day is ours!"_

_"Great." He nodded. The bell rang, signaling that everyone should be heading to class now. "Can't wait for school to be over."_

_You giggled as you both headed off to your classroom._

**_###_ **

_You took what you needed from your locker and closed it, making sure it locked before you headed towards the school's entrance to meet Craig._

_As you got there you noticed he wasn't there yet. "Guess I'm a little early," you noted as you checked your phone._

_No messages. He should be arriving soon. You decided to send him a message telling him you're already at the entrance and slipped it back in your sweater's pocket as you waited._

_You made sure to not get in anyone's way as they made their way out of the building._

_You were excited to hang out with Craig. You blushed a bit at that thought. It wasn't the first time you guys ever hung out alone but, it felt a bit strange this time._

_You shook your head, not wanting to think too hard about it. Not today! You'll think it over the weekend!_ _And depending on what you came up with, you'll talk with Craig about it on Monday!_

_5 minutes..._

_10 minutes..._

_15 minutes..._

_You checked your phone again to see no messages still. The school was nearly empty, only few students that stayed after school were around and some teachers._

_Was he getting notes from the guys? Maybe. He always made it seemed like he didn't care about school, but he did pass... mostly._

_Soon it had been close to half and hour_ _. Where the hell was he?! Did you just got stood up?_

_No... Craig wouldn't do that to you. Of that you were certain! But how else could you explain this? And he hadn't bothered to send you a message at least explaining?!_

_You weren't sure what to do. You could go home... Or check the school and look him._

_Laughter was heard from behind you and you turned to see Stan and Kyle making their way out the building._

_"Oh! Hey! What're you still doing here?" Stan asked._

_"I was supposed to meet Craig here about half an hour ago...." You replied, slightly annoyed._

_"Craig?" Kyle repeated. "Stan and I saw him heading in one of the art classrooms."_

_"The art classroom?" you repeated, wondering why he would go in there._

_"Don't those girls that draw hang around there? Didn't one of them go in there too?" he asked._

_Your eyes widened a bit at Stan's words. Did you seriously just got stood up for him to have a small make-out session with some girl?! Your hands clenched tightly, your fingernails lightly grazed at your palm._

_"You ok?" You heard Stan asked. You did your best to hold in your tears, it hurt knowing your best friend would choose to break his promise. You nodded. "Want a ride home? I'm sure Kyle's mom wouldn't mind making a stop. Right Kyle?"_

_The Jewish boy shook his head. "She wouldn't mind_ _._

_You sighed. "No... I'll walk... I don't feel like getting home so soon..." You made your way down the steps when you felt a hand on your shoulder and looked to see Kyle._

_"Then come with us._ _"_

_You were surprised at his offer. "With you? But I don't wanna ruin your plans."_

_Stan waved his hand. "Nah. We don't mind."_

_You'd never thought of spending time with Stan or Kyle before. Would it be strange? Wouldn't it be like hanging out with strangers?_

_But it was better than having your parents see you so sad. You nodded and gave a small smile. "Thanks."_

_Stan and Kyle went ahead. You decided to check your phone one more time._

_No messages._

_You frowned and slipped your phone in your book bag before you headed after the two boys and got in the car._

**_~Broflovski Residence~_ **

_You cheered as your chosen character came in first at the finish line._

_"Another victory for me!" You sang._

_"I thought you said you haven't played before," Stan spoke up. You turned to look at him and grinned._

_"Noooo~ I said I haven't played in a while," you corrected._

_"How long is a while, exactly?" Kyle asked, a crimson brow arched._

_You shrugged. "Um... a couple of days?"_

_"What?!" Stan and Kyle yelled I'm unison and you giggled._

_"My bad," you apologized_ _with a smile and a wink._

_"Get her!" Your eyes widened as you tried running out of the room when you felt someone pull you up and you gave a soft yell when you saw Stan pick you up, only for you both to tumble down towards Kyle's bed._

_"_ _H-Hey_ _!" Kyle exclaimed. "Watch where you land!"_

_Stan chuckled. "Sorry."_

_You giggled as you sat up along with Stan._ _"I deserved it. How about another round?" You asked, hoping to guise the hope in your voice._

_"I'm in!" Kyle picked up the controller and grinned. "And this time I won't go easy!"_

_"You're on!" You spoke excitedly._

**_###_ **

_"Thanks for driving me home, Mrs._ _Broflovski_ _!" You thanked with a smile._

_"Anytime, sweetie. You're always welcome in our home," she remarked. You thanked her as you got out of the car and closed the door. You waved goodbye as she drove off._

_After she was gone you made your way inside and saw your mother on the phone._

_You decided not to bother her as you walked to the kitchen to see your dad with Luke. "Sweet pea. It's nice to finally see you home."_

_"Sorry," you apologized._

_"I thought you and Craig were going to come here right after school," he brought up._

_Hearing his name made you feel upset again. You didn't wished to tear up in front of your dad. It would only cause him to start asking questions you didn't wish to answer at the moment._

_You shrugged. "Change of plans."_

_"You made sure to finish your homework?"_

_"Yes dad."_

_"Did you have fun?"_

_You smiled. "Lots. We played some Mario Kart! I won of course! Well, most of the times."_

_Your father chuckled. "I'm glad you had fun."_

_"Yeah... I really needed it." You sighed. "I'm going to my room. I'm a bit tired. Call me when dinner's ready?"_

_"Of course."_

_You gave your father a hug and Luke a kiss on the head which made him go "Blech!" and that made you laugh a bit as you walked out. You waved at your mom - whom was still on the phone - as you headed upstairs. You threw your book bag somewhere on the floor and took out your phone. You saw you had some messages from Stan and Kyle. You saw you were also tagged on Facebook and checked to see it was a couple of pictures that both of them shared in their accounts from earlier._

_"Heh." You saw people had already given their reactions to the images, so you decided to go ahead and give a heart one to the posts and commented on Stan's post._

_-That was fun! We should hang out again! Maybe when I return on Monday!-_

_You made sure to tag Kyle on the comment as well so he would read it and posted. You immediately got a response from Stan._

_-Looking forward to it!-_

_You smiled as you decided to check more of your messages. And a frown now rested on your lips as you realized that Craig had not bothered to even text you._

_"Hmph! Fine! You wanna spend your time with some bimbo instead of your best friend, go ahead! Just don't expect me to come to you pleading for an explanation!" You placed your phone on your nightstand as you curled up in bed, completely furious. You closed your eyes and decided to just take a small nap._

_The following day, you hung out with Stan and his friends. Kenny recognized you and Cartman claimed he didn't remember you. It didn't mattered to you really, you hardly knew him either anyway._

_Though while you hung out with them, you did looked around the cafeteria once in a while. But he wasn't around. In fact, none of them were. You knew they were in school because you saw them in class! Clyde, Token, and Jimmy had greeted you and you talked to them as well. Of course you hadn't brought up what happened yesterday, since it wasn't their fault nor their problem._

_Honestly it worried you a bit not seeing any of them. But at the same time it made you angry. Did they knew?! Were they all avoiding you so you wouldn't ask them about Craig? Did Craig told them to not talk to you?!_

_For the rest of the day you decided not to think about that and just focused on everything else besides him. It worked. School came to an end, you said your goodbyes to your new friends, and were headed off to attend the wedding of a family member._

**_###_ **

_"So, are you ever going to tell me what it is that is bothering you, sweet pea?"_

_You looked up from your plate at your father. "Huh?"_

_"Tell me, what's wrong? You haven't been yourself since Thursday."_

_Ah. So he has noticed. Of course he had. You weren't the best at hiding things, especially from your father. You looked around to see nobody else was around. Luke was off playing with other kids his age and your mother was talking to her newlywed sister. You sighed as you looked at your untouched cake. "Craig and I are in a fight."_

_"Mm?"_

_"He ditched me on Thursday..." you added. "And to make things worse, he hasn't even tried to apologized. He even avoided me all day yesterday!" You sniffled, playing with the hem of your dress._

_"And was this before or after you tried talking to him?"_

_His questioned surprised you and you looked up at him. "I didn't try talking to him."_

_"Why not?"_

_"Because! He should be the one apologizing!" You crossed your arms._

_Your father moved closer to you. "Well, maybe he doesn't know he hurt your feelings. I've only met Craig a couple of times, but, I could see that he does care about you, sweetie. Now, I don't believe you should be apologizing, don't get me wrong. But... I do believe that perhaps you should be the one to make the first move towards that apology. The boy is probably dense. I bet he himself is wondering why you're not even bothering to reach out to him."_

_"Dad..."_

_His large hand gently held yours. It felt warm. It always did. He always made you feel better. "I know you are stubborn and from what it seems, so is he."_

_"So... I should be the one to cave?"_

_He shook his head. "Nobody is caving sweet pea. S_ _ometimes, you're the one that has to take that step forward, otherwise you will never get anywhere." You looked at yours and his hand on the table and gave it a squeeze. "If you two really care about each other, you'll get through this. All friends have their moments where nonsense gets in the way. But if it's as strong as you both claim it to be, you will both not just let this be the end."_

_His words hit you at the heart. You smiled as you looked at him, feeling the heavy burden of worry lifted from your shoulders. "Thanks dad." You reached over and hugged him. He always managed to pick up whatever worry you had and fling it away._

_"Anytime, sweetie." He pulled back. "Now, how about we go ahead and dance a bit. Think of it as practice for when your wedding comes along..."_

_"D-Dad!" You blushed when he said that. "T-That's still a l-long t-time f-from now!"_

_"I know. Maybe a few fifty," he said as he stood up and helped you up._

_You frowned. "Not that far." You both laughed a bit as he led you to the dance floor. As you danced with him, you couldn't help but want the weekend to come to an end soon so you could return home and hope that you and Craig could work things out._

_The party was wonderful. Everyone danced, they ate, they congratulated the pair. It would be an unforgettable day..._

_...but not just because of the wedding..._

_You couldn't move. You couldn't talk. You heard the words. But it was as if your mind was taking twice as long to process it._

_You fell back, landing on the couch as your mother reached to you and placed her hand over yours._

_Though she was close, it felt as if she was so far away..._

_"I'm so sorry sweetie... But... your father... He... He's... gone..."_

_Her words rang repeatedly in your mind as tears formed in the corners of your eyes. You wanted to scream, but it was as if your voice had suddenly disappeared. You couldn't bring out anything at that moment._

_You stood up and were headed towards the stairs to go to the room you were sharing with your cousin. You stopped by the stairs, and it was as if everything suddenly hit you all at once as you fell down on your knees. You heard your mother cry out your name as you felt her suddenly beside you, holding on to you as you whimpered and clung to her. Your body quivered as you cried against her body._

_The night you had gone to bed and stayed there for a lone time. You had a dream that your father was there, holding your hand and you were both just walking. You were six and you clung to his large hand as you skipped on the stone pavement._ _  
_

_But suddenly you fell and scrapped your knees. You let out a soft whine and looked up, hoping to see your father to comfort you. But he was not there. Your surroundings darkened and you looked around, seeing an empty space. You cried out for him to come for you, pleading for him not to leave you alone._

_He never returned. And you woke up screaming and crying._

_**###** _

_Everything else went by like a blur. Your mother and and aunt talking about what to do next, the funeral, the walk back to your aunt's place. It all felt like nothing. You hadn't even felt like you were in charge of your body. It felt as if you were on auto and you were only moving because that was the command._

_You were lying on the bed again, but hadn't felt the need to sleep after the nightmare. You sniffed, then you heard a small sound. You noticed the small light emitting from your phone and you reached for it. You saw you had a few messages._

_Stan, Kyle, Clyde, and Token._

_Your eyes at that moment regained a sudden emotion of hope as you remembered that you weren't alone here. Seeing those familiar names reminded you that there was someone._

_You did have someone. Back home. Someone you knew you had to talk with. At that moment you didn't care about what had happened on Thursday anymore._

_You needed him. You needed Craig to hold you and tell you it will be ok. You wiped your tears as you were about to text him. You hesitated. "No..." You shook your head. This wasn't something you could text or even do by phone. You will tell him once you returned to South Park._

_You guys stayed for two more days after the weekend and after saying your goodbyes and shared condolences with the rest of the family, you were now headed back to South Park. You held on to your phone, part of you wanting to just text Craig you wanted to see him, but you didn't want to start crying in front of your mother and Luke again. She was being strong for the both of you. And you felt you needed to do the same. She already had so much to worry about._

_As soon as you got home, you dropped your stuff in your room and rushed out after letting your mother know you were going out for a while. You didn't give her a chance to speak as you rushed off the direction towards Craig's house._

_One the way you came across Stan walking Sparky. He said your name and you stopped to ask him something. "Craig? Is he home?"_

_"I think so," Stan replied. "Wait! Why haven't you...?!" You heard him called out as you rushed off. You heard footsteps behind you and knew Stan was catching up, but you didn't want to talk to him or anybody else right now. There was only one person in your mind right now that you wanted to talk with._

_You both arrived at the Tucker Residence and you immediately rang the doorbell, anxiously waiting for someone to open up._

_A tall man looked at you and gave a small smile as he greeted you. "What are you doing here?"_

_"Is... Craig here?" you asked._

_He nodded. "He's out back."_

_You looked at Stan and before you said anything he just nodded. "I'll wait out here for you." You didn't say anything as you stepped inside and headed to the backyard. You felt yourself feeling comforted as you saw the familiar blue hat and jacket he usually wore. He seemed to be working on something. His bike? He did always seemed to buy something to change on it._

_Slowly you opened the screen door and stepped out, rubbing your arms as you felt a bit chilly. You hadn't even given yourself a chance to grab your jacket earlier. Well, you didn't put much thought into it as you took a few more steps closer. But Craig didn't stop what he was doing._

_Had he not noticed you yet?_

_"Craig?" You spoke out._

_He didn't reacted. He kept working on the wheel. Was he angry that you had not messaged him all this time? You had a right to be angry. But right now, none of that mattered. You wanted to put all that aside._

_Before you could let out another word, he spoke. "What do you want?" Same monotonous tone as always. But what made you feel anxious was that he had that cold sharpness in it that he normally never used on you._

_"I... I wanted to see you... I... came back today and..."_

_The sound of something hitting the ground made you stop and slightly jump as you saw him stand up. He slightly turned to look at you. The comforting blue eyes you had hoped to see were not there. Instead he had a horrible look, as if he was judging you._

_"Craig..."_

_"I don't know why you're here. After all, you seem enjoy spending time with Stan and Kyle more," he spoke up._

_"What...?" You didn't understand what he was trying to say._

_He shrugged. "Fine by me. You were always such a hassle." You couldn't believe the harsh words he was saying. You wanted to yell at him. He sighed. "At least now I don't have to deal with your petty problems, you little crybaby."_

_It was as if he had stabbed you right in the heart. You were a nuisance to him. All this time, you were only a thorn on his side. You took a step back and without a single word and only a choked sob you rushed out of the there and pushed past Mr. Tucker and Stan as you ran away from that place. You didn't even stop as you heard Stan shout your name._

_1 week..._

_1 week that you didn't bother to leave your room. You didn't go to school. You didn't go outside. You didn't answer any messages, any calls. You hardly ate anything. The only times you did was when your mother practically fed you herself._

_The first two days she stayed with you. She held you in her arms, caressed your hair and promised everything would be fine. After that though, she had to return to work. She would always say goodbye and leave you something to eat._

_You never did. She always had to do it after coming back from work, after taking care of Luke._

_But none of that mattered to you as you held on to your blanket and silently cried, the memory of your father always returning and making you relive the moment you found out about his death. You wanted him there with you. Sometimes you felt as if his warm hand was stroking your hair, smiling at you, promising everything will be fine and that you will always have his hand to reach for. But that wasn't true. That promise was broken. He wasn't there._

_You had nobody to reach for. You were alone._

_You hated going to sleep. Because you had nightmares. Sometimes the ones where you lost your father. Other times, Craig leading you towards a place, a dark room where he would close the door and you were left alone in the dark. Banging on the wall, pleading for a way out. And other times, it was a combination._

_Though around the fifth day, you were practically numb to the feeling. You no longer dreamed. You had gotten out of bed to go to the bathroom. After you finished washing your hands you looked at yourself in the mirror. There were dark circles under your eyes. You softly traced them, some of the water streaming down your cheek, following the path of dried tears._

_You took a shower and decided to go downstairs. It was really quiet. You looked at the clock. 4 in the afternoon? You hated this feeling of loneliness. You should've stayed in bed._

_Suddenly, it felt as if your nightmare was coming true. You backed up a bit, your back hitting the wall as it felt like everything was getting dark. You could no longer see the kitchen, the dining area, nor the living room you were standing in. You whined as you brought your hands to your head. "No... please don't leave me...!" You sobbed. But there was no answer. You looked to see the black pool started to make it's way to your feet, up your ankles, close to your knees._

_You were being swallowed... To where nobody would be able to reach you... To hear you..._

_You cried out as you rushed out, slamming the door opened and running away from the house. You didn't care who you pushed or the swears and shouts you heard. You didn't care about where you were headed. You just wanted to get away from everything._

_A loud horn, the sounds of wheels trying to break and before you had a chance to process everything you felt yourself suddenly flying back. You felt the hard impact of the cement floor. But you weren't hit by the oncoming truck. You struggled to get up, but something held on to you. You looked up to see Stan's face. One eye closed, a small hint of pain in his expression as he looked at you._

_"Are you ok...?"_

_You blinked, somewhat confused._

_"Hey! You little fucks! Watch where you're walking! Dammit!" The truck driver shouted before he went along his way down the street. You could hear the murmuring of people surrounding the both of you._

_"Oh my god! Are they alright?!"_

_"It didn't hit them?!"_

_"Someone should call 911!"_

_'The hospital? No! I don't...!' Your grip on Stan tightened as you buried your head in his chest. "I don't wanna go to the hospital, please..." you whispered._

_Stan helped you up. "I-It's ok everybody. We're fine! Just a little scrape...!" You heard him assure the people. Luckily for the both of you, the town hardly ever seemed to take much things seriously... or at least this was one of the times when they didn't took things WAY too seriously._

_Once the crowd was gone, you felt Stan tightly hold your arms and you looked up at his angry face. "What the hell is wrong with you?! You could've gotten killed!"_

_Killed. Death. You felt the stinging returned to your eyes as you let yourself cry, unable to hold anything in anymore. The numbness had disappeared and you once again felt the heavy pain of loss._

_But this time you weren't alone. You felt a pair of arms wrap around your small frame and your body pressed against his warm one. One hand around your waist and another one stroking your hair as you cried on his chest for a good while._

_**~Cemetery~** _

_"Here."_

_You sniffed as you grabbed the cold can that Stan had handed to you. A quick look told you exactly what it was and you looked at him. "I don't..."_

_"It's ok, you don't have to," he assured you._

_You nodded as you simply held on to the beer. The cold feeling actually felt good against your palms as you sniffed again. You wiped some tears that threatened to come out. "Why are we here?" you asked._

_Stan nodded at a headstone and you looked at it. "I brought you here, because I didn't want to be like those idiots that simply state they know what one is going through, but they don't really. I've lost someone I care about a lot too..." He looked at the grave. "He wasn't family... but he was someone my friends and I really have come to depend on. I guess you could say, a big brother of sorts. Someone we always went to for advice."_

_There was a moment of silence._

_"What happened?" You asked after a few seconds._

_You noticed Stan had a look of despair, anger and frustration, as well as resentment. "There's... this cult. They poisoned his mind, made him into something different, something bad. We tried to rescue him from those horrible people..." He paused. "But... we couldn't. And in the end, he died..."_

_There is another moment of silence. You looked over at the grave and your mind returned to your father. You will never see him again. He was gone forever. You won't see his smile, the way his eyes would have that playful glint when he spent time with Luke and you, his fatherly wisdom, his hugs and kisses. It was all gone... For the first time, you were thinking about everything, all the good memories. Since his death, you refused to think so much about it because it hurt so much..._

_It did hurt. And you wanted to go numb again. "You should've let me be run over by that truck..." you spoke softly, partly hoping Stan didn't heard you._

_"What would that solve?" he asked. Of course he heard you. You looked up at him._

_"At least it would end this pain..."_

_Stan scoffed. "And then your mother would carry that pain."_

_You were surprised by that statement as you stared down at the can of beer you were holding. "Mom..."_

_"Yeah, your mom. And your brother. Don't you think it would break them if they lost you right after losing your dad?"_

_Of course it would hurt them. You thought about how your mother would hold you and comfort you through this. How Luke tried to cheer you up and even laid by your side some nights after your nightmares._

_You felt so horrible. They did their best to help you, despite the fact they too lost someone important in their lives... And you did little to nothing to help them through their mourning. Tears streamed down your cheeks again and you sighed as you wiped them away._

_"God... I'm such a crybaby..."_

_"It's ok." Stan spoke gently. "Go ahead and cry all you want." He opened the can he had been holding and drank from it. "I won't judge you. If you want, you can..." You didn't wait for him to finish his sentence as you let the can fall from your hand and immediately wrapped your arms around his waist, burying your face in his chest again, crying._

_And he hadn't lied. He let you cry all you wanted. He didn't complained, he didn't rushed you. He simply stroke your hair._

_After that he took you home to a worried mother and brother. You hugged them both and apologized for your behavior. Your mother didn't say anything. You only murmured that she was glad you're alright as she held you and Luke closely to her._

**###**

You sat on the steps of the church, you made sure you stayed out of the rain as you recalled the events from your past.

In that moment you remembered the horrible numb feeling you felt after losing your father, the harsh words of your then best friend, Craig, and the kindness shown by Stan.

That day you stuck by his side like a child. He never complained though. He always welcomed you with a smile. He never pushed you away and neither did his friends. They all easily welcomed you with open arms. You had figured Stan told them about your situation. But then again, everyone in town eventually had found out.

You didn't care though. It didn't mattered anymore. You and your family slowly managed to get through the pain of the loss. You drifted away from Clyde, Token, and Jimmy. You didn't hate them, you still don't, but you didn't feel like being near Craig.

A shadow caught your attention and you looked up to see Stan stood before you, he offered you a helping hand.

You stared at him for a moment, then reached for it and allowed him help you to your feet. Neither of you said a word, there was nothing to be said. Stan wrapped his arms around you, embracing you tightly. You closed your eyes as you clung to him, feeling warm and safe.

He kept you in his arms as he pulled back a bit to look at you. There was something in his blue eyes that made you blush. A sort of gleam and slowly, but surely you both were getting closer...

**...until his lips connected with yours, in a sweet kiss.**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Finally done with this chapter and the flashback that turned out to be longer than I expected.**   
>  **And there's your first kiss with Stan. Some spiciness coming up in the next chapter. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**


	15. |Lovers|

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Smut in this chapter ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I did warned in the previous chapter. XD Anyway, enjoy and again I apologize for it not being the best!**

**"Penny for your thoughts?"**

You snapped out of the small trance you were in and looked over at Stan beside you. He kept his eyes on the road, so you couldn't tell from his expression what was going through his mind since he seemed focused instead.

You looked down at your hands. "Um... I was just thinking about... the kiss from a while ago."

"Yeah?"

Your brows pinched together as you looked at the road as well, the sounds of the rain hitting the car roof and windshield. "Why did you do that?"

Silence.

"Really? You have to ask?" He sounded genuinely surprised.

But you nodded, still unsure about what exactly happened and why. He made a sudden turn and you realized it wasn't the way home. "Stan?" He was slowing down until he arrived to a secluded part and put the truck in park. He undid his seat belt and turned to you. His hand reached to you and caressed your cheek.

He went ahead and unbuckled your seat belt before pulling you to him and kissing you on the lips again. Your mind went blank as you allowed your body to react to his kiss. You managed to get on top of him, your legs on each side of him and he fiddled with the seat to move it back a bit so your butt won't hit the car horn as he kept kissing you.

A small moan escaped your lips as you ran your hands through his black hair, pushing off his hat and you grind against him, feeling him get hard against you. He pulled from the kiss, panting, catching his breath for a moment.

The he caught your lips in a heated kiss again. You felt his hands undoing your jacket and lifting your shirt up a bit.

"Mm..." You moaned softly against his lips as he massaged one of your breasts through your bra. He pulled back from the kiss and pulled down the cups and you instantly felt the cold air hit your bare skin. Your nipples erected and Stan gently played with them with his thumbs.

In a few seconds his mouth replaced one of his hands, his tongue flicked your nipple, making you let out more pleasured sounds. You moved one hand to his neck and the other one gripped his hair, you held him closely. You didn't want even an inch of space between you both.

You have been apart long enough. There was no way you were going to let him go so soon. You started moving your hips against him again. Stan groaned as you felt his hands grip your waist, and he moved along with the pace.

"Oh Stan..." You blushed as you moved a bit faster. You enjoyed the sounds that escaped him as you kept grinding against him. Watching his expression of want, feeling the heat in the car rise, you couldn't wait much longer. You scooted off a bit, hitting the wheel for a moment but that didn't mattered as your hands quickly moved to his belt. Quickly you began undoing it as you both shared more heated kisses.

Then his phone rang. You didn't stop though. He didn't stop either. It was clear you both had only each other in your minds at this moment.

But the phone wouldn't stop. It kept ringing.

"Fuck..." Stan murmured, annoyed as he wrapped an arm around your waist and he reached for his cell and answered. "Yeah?!" Irritation was clear in his tone. You dipped your head in the crook of his neck, planting sweet kisses on his skin while he was on the phone, not wanting the mood to completely disappeared.

"Wendy." That name was enough to make you lose all that feeling though. Your arousal was replaced with anger, aggravation, and guilt as you managed to get off of him and sit back on your seat. You fixed up your bra and pulled down your shirt. "No, I can't make it today. I know the test is on Wednesday, but I need a break."

You buttoned up your jacket and crossed your arms as you stared out the window. You would had left but you didn't want to get caught in the rain.

You heard a sigh from Stan and looked at him. "Yes, of course I've been studying. No, I just, I have work later today anyway so I wouldn't have been able to. Yeah, I know I asked for help, but..." Silence. You could tell Wendy was probably scolding him now. Your suspicions were proven right when Stan pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. "Look, I gotta go now. I'll talk to you later, ok? Bye." He hung up and ran a hand through his hair.

He stared out at nothing for a moment before he went ahead started up the truck again and pulled out of the secluded area. You fiddled with the button in your jacket while he drove.

"You have to babysit today?"

You shook your head. "No. Luke's with mom today. Why?"

You looked down as you felt his hand take a hold of yours as he kept his eyes on the road. "I have time before I have to go to work. We can continue where we left off back at my place."

' _What?!_ ' Your eyes widened as you were left in complete shock. Pick up where you left off?! "Um, Stan... what do...?"

"I doubt it would've been comfortable in here anyway. Besides, this way you can take a shower before I take you back home."

Was he really saying all this?! Did he really mean those words?! Or was he just playing with your emotions?! You couldn't find the right words as you noticed him take the path that led to his place. You both remained quiet the whole trip.

Soon he arrived to his home and parked the truck. You weren't sure what to even say. Your mind was struggling to comprehend everything in this moment. You and Stan had just made out a while ago. But it was obvious he was still with Wendy. And now he had driven to his home to...

He said your name and you looked at him. "You ok?"

"I... I'm just trying to understand what exactly is going on here..." You admitted.

You slightly jumped as you felt Stan gently push a strand of hair behind your ear. His eyes were lovely and you didn't move away as he leaned in to kiss you again.

And you couldn't even for a second deny that your heart almost leapt out of your chest. You had been aching for this kind of affection from him for so long. You moved as much as you could to deepen the kiss, reaching over to hold on to his arm as you both kissed for quite a long while. Finally, you broke apart for some air, but your lips instantly missed him. You wanted more kisses.

You unbuckled your seat belt as he did and stepped out of the truck, closing the doors. Stan walked over to your side and took a hold of your hand as he led you inside.

The last time you stepped foot in his house was to fool around with him. And now, here you were again, about to do the same thing. It was as if your brain slapped you with that common sense you seem to lack when around Stan and you held your ground, pulling your hand away from him. "W-Wait..."

You looked down at the floor, afraid that if you looked at him it would be hopeless since he always made you feel weak in the knees. And it didn't help that he kissed you now since it made your heart scream at you, pleading for you to ignore your brain.

"What is it?" he asked.

You shook your head. "Stan, you kissed me at the church's steps... and we made out in your truck... and you kissed me again just a second ago..."

You heard him chuckle. "Yeah, I was there."

You frowned. "That's not the point. What about Wendy?" He didn't answer. "She called you and from the way you talked with her, it's obvious you two are still together. Or did you break up again? And is this gonna be a daily thing? Every time you break up with her, you come to me?"

He didn't said a word. You weren't sure if that was a good or bad thing. You wanted to turn and walk out of there. But your feet wouldn't move. You just stared at the ground. You heard footsteps and looked up to suddenly see him standing before you. Before you had a chance to do anything, Stan had a hold of you and kissed you again.

And just like before you gave into him. You clung to his jacket as you moved along with his lips. You knew you were definitely not the best kisser. After all, Stan was your very first, but he didn't seem to mind. If anything, it was as if he was guiding you.

He pulled back from the kiss for a moment, leaving you in a daze. "Let's not think about Wendy right now... You're the only one I want."

"I..." His lips were on yours again, this time the kiss was much deeper, hungry. He desired you and it made you feel wonderful to know you probably drove him insane at this moment. You both separated from the kiss and he led you up the stairs and to his room. He closed the door and immediately attacked you in another heated kiss.

It was as if he was starving for your lips just as much as you had starved for his during the time you both had been friends with benefits. Now he was finally doing it and it felt wonderful. He quickly removed his brown coat and went for the buttons of yours, easily able to undo them and rid you of your coat.

You pushed up his t-shirt and he removed it, letting it fall to the floor as you both kept on kissing. He placed his hands on your waist as you tugged at his hair, letting him guide you further and towards his bed, where you slump down on and he hovered over you.

Your hands moved from his hair to his chest, gently you traced down his slightly built body. You felt him shudder under your touch and smiled against his lips as you traced every inch of his torso and continued to move your hands until they reached his belt and you fiddled with it until it came undone and you went for the zipper, carefully pulling it down and pushing down the hem of his jeans while you felt him caressing your leg.

His kisses moved from your lips to your chin, then your neck. You angled your face a bit to the side as he continued kissing you. You let out a loud gasp as you felt him nip the skin. "S-Stan...!" you cried out. "It'll leave a mark..."

He pulled back and looked at you, he smiled. "So?"

You blushed and murmured, "Now I'll have to wear turtlenecks again..."

He went ahead and pushed up your shirt, removing it completely. You sat up and kissed him. You had not expected to be bold enough to do so, but it was ok, right? He kissed you multiple times already so it was fine if you did it once in a while. He accepted your kiss and it made you feel butterflies in your stomach just like the past ones. You felt him fiddling with the back of your bra until he managed to get it undone and massaged your breast while his other hand was placed by your lower back.

More articles of clothing came off, until you both were left with nothing on. You were on your back as he was kissing your body. You quiver at each kiss, his lips felt so warm. You felt him flick each of your nipples with his tongue before he moved a bit lower, to your abdomen. One of his hands had been rubbing your leg and moved to your inner thigh, then cupped the area between your legs, making your breath hitch as your hips arched as he rubbed the area.

"St-Stan..." You stuttered as you felt the heat rise against your face. You felt two fingers pushed inside and you closed your eyes as you gripped the bed sheets.

'What _the hell is wrong with you?! Why are you letting him do this?!_ ' That question crossed your mind, but you tried your best to ignore it. Why bother even asking?

'H _e has a girlfriend!_ '

He said not to think about that. And you decided not to, pushing away that thought as well.

You felt his fingers pulled out and looked over to see him with one finger in his mouth as he smiled. You blushed so much and covered your face.

A chuckle is heard from him and you felt him gently pull your hands from your face. "Why're you getting so shy? We've done this plenty of times."

"I-I know..." You swallowed hard as he reached over to his nightstand and you saw the condom he ripped open and slipped on himself. He positioned himself between your legs. You felt the tip of his hardened dick close to your wet core. "W-Wait! Stan!" You cried out.

He looked at you. "I'll be gentle," he promised.

You wanted to tell him that that wasn't what was on your mind. You wanted to tell him that maybe this wasn't the best idea. That you would both end up regretting it!

He inches closer to you, a hand gently stroked your hair and you felt that comfort he always seemed to radiate towards you. You loved him. But more than anything, you  _trusted_  him. He earned that trust when he picked up the pieces of that broken girl you were about 3-4 years ago and treated her with such a gentle touch as he helped piece her back together. He shared his thoughts, his dreams, his insecurities with you. Opened his heart and mind to you so you would see he didn't wished you harm. And in return, you too, allowed him to see your hopes and dreams.

His lips lightly brushed against yours for a tender second. You let out a soft gasp as you felt your walls being stretched out as he sheathed himself in you.

How long has it been since you felt that wonderful sensation?

He started a gentle pace, just as he promised. You wrapped your arms around his neck, brought him closer to you and kissed him.

As you kissed the pacing of his thrusts got faster and you moaned against his lips. His tongue found its way inside your mouth, massaging your tongue. Your fingers tangled with his black strands as you moved your tongue along with his, nervous while doing so.

Just as earlier, he patiently guided you through the movements of your lips and tongues. Your hands caressed his back as his kisses trailed to your cheek, your chin, and kissing you close to your lips. You groaned as your hips moved on their own along with his pacing. You panted and breathed out his name, overwhelmed by his scent. That wonderful musk of his that blanked your mind and made you feel like nothing else mattered.

Your eyes widened as you let out a string of incomprehensible wording when he almost pulled completely out, only to give a hard thrust and it made your body tremble as you reached your orgasm.

A look of utter pleasure on your expression as you clung to his arms. Once you regained your senses, you pushed him 'till his back was on the mattress and you straddled him. Your hips circled his for a moment before you picked up a rhythm, your hands on his chest as you moaned.

His hands gripped your hips while he kept up with your pace. You leaned forward, nuzzling against the crook of his neck as the pacing got faster. You felt like you were going to reach your peak again and groaned as you slammed yourself repeatedly against him, your hands now on the bed, your moans muffled by his neck and you felt his arms tightly wrapped around you as his thrusts became sloppy and with a few loud grunts you both reached that final shattering moment as the room seemed to spin, your vision blurred and you couldn't hold your weight up and went limp on Stan.

The room was now quiet, with only the sounds of yours and his uneven breathing.

**~Mini Timeskip~**

You were brushing your hair when you heard the door opened and Stan walked in, wearing his work uniform as he was drying off his hair. "Here," you said as you offered him his brush. But he shook his head with a small smile.

"Nah, I'm good."

You watched as he simply ruffled his hair a bit and giggled. You placed the brush down on the stand beside his bed.

After you both got dressed, you made sure to grab your book bag and you both headed out the door and into his truck. The rain had stopped. You couldn't help but smile at that. It was as if the world itself could feel your current good mood at that moment.

Stan drove you home and stopped by the front of your house. You noticed him looking at you for a moment and your cheeks flared up. "W-What?"

He smirked. "Nothing. Just that, I missed you." He reached over and took a hold of your hand in his.

You smiled. "I missed you too."

"See you tomorrow at school?"

You nodded. He leaned in and gave you a sweet kiss. You felt the butterflies in your stomach going wild even after his lips were no longer on yours. "Bye..." was all you could muster out as you grabbed your bag and exited the truck, almost tripping, but luckily you managed to regain your balance and closed the door. You rushed to the door of your home and turned to wave goodbye to Stan as he pulled out and drove off.

You sighed as you unlocked the door and walked inside.

"Where have you been?! Mom and I were worried sick!" Luke's voice broke through your dream-like bubble as you saw him standing before you, hands on his hips as he glared at you.

"Huh?" You gave him a confused look.

Luke crossed his arms. "Mom called you like three times!"

You quickly shuffled through your bag. You had forgotten you turned off your phone earlier. Once you found it you turned it back on and saw that you did indeed had 3 missed phone calls and 6 unread texts!

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry..." you apologized. "I just... lost track of time..."

Luke raised a brow. "Lost track of time?" he repeated.

You nodded. "I forgot an umbrella so I stop by one of the buildings to wait for the rain to stop. Did mom go out and look for me?!"

"Yes, but I returned not long ago." You looked up to see your mom walked in from the kitchen. You rushed to her and hugged her.

"I'm so sorry!"

You felt her hand on your back. "It's ok, sweetie. I was just a bit worried when you didn't come at the usual time. And when you didn't answer my calls, well, that's when I thought something happened..."

You pulled back and looked at her. "You needed me for something?"

She shook her head. "No. Like I said, I was just a bit worried. Heh, I know, I know. You're at the age where you feel like you can take care of yourself, but that doesn't mean I'll stop worrying. Now, go wash up. Dinner will be ready soon."

You nodded as she walked back to the kitchen. You turned to head to the stairs. "So, you hanging out with Stan again?" You stopped and looked over at your little brother.

"What?"

"You smell like that cologne he wears."

You blushed. "D-Don't be ridiculous! I was... with the guys and Stan just happened to be there, is all!"

"I thought you said you went somewhere to wait for the rain to stop."

"I-I did! I was with the guys...!"

Luke walked closer. "But don't all of them drive? Why didn't you ask one of them to drive you home?"

You frowned. "Stop being so nosy Luke! Sheesh!" You rushed upstairs. You closed the door to your room and threw your book bag to the floor. You took a seat on the chair by your desk and sighed as you rubbed your forehead and realized what had just happened.

Lies. You lied to your mother and brother.

You snapped at Luke because he had noticed a detail that could've gotten you caught.

Caught...

_Yes! Caught! Because what you and Stan did was wrong! And you know it!_

You frowned and shook that thought away, cursing your brain for being such a dick to you right now. You turned on your computer and a sound from your phone made you reach for it from your pocket.

It was Stan.

And just like that, you felt relaxed and clicked on the message.

**= Text you tonight, after I get out of work. Hope you're thinking about me =**

You blushed and hugged your phone for a moment. You clicked on the camera and made sure it was on selfie mode. You angled it right and took a picture and sent it to him, followed by your message.

**= Of course! Looking forward to you being the last thing on my mind before going to sleep <3 =**

It felt good, being able to send messages like that to Stan. You placed your phone on the desk and decided to start on your homework so you wouldn't have to deal with anything else tonight.

**###**

The following day, you were surprised to see a text from Stan telling you to be ready soon as he was picking you up. You texted him back.

**= No can do. I have to take Luke to school today TAT =**

You sent. And got an immediate response.

**= I'll take him too. Miss seeing the little guy =**

God! Stan was just perfect! You texted him back with an 'alright' and a smiley emoji and rushed out of the room and knocked on Luke's.

The bathroom door opened and a muffled 'what' made you turned to see him with his toothbrush in his mouth.

"Stan's driving us to school so don't take too long!" you chirped with probably the biggest smile as you rushed back to your room to look for clothes to wear for the day. After you picked some you rushed to the bathroom to do your morning routine then headed back to your room to get ready.

As you were putting on your coat, your phone made a sound and you picked it up to see Stan messaged that he was outside. You smiled as you finished buttoning your coat and grabbed your book bag, heading out your room. "Luke! You ready?!" you called out as you headed downstairs.

"For some time now!" Luke's response came from downstairs and you saw him standing by the door. "I'm surprised Stan's giving us a ride."

"Why's that?" you asked.

He shrugged. "I thought you weren't spending that much time with him. You know, because of the whole... pen belonging to someone else and wanting it?"

You blushed in embarrassment. He remembered the example you used?! "Hey, we're friends! And that always comes before anything else, right?"

"I guess."

"Now come on, before he decides to just leave us!" You rushed him out before he started asking more questions. You locked the door once you were outside and turned to see Stan and Luke share a high five before Luke walked inside the back of the truck. You smiled as you rushed over, but made sure not to end up jumping him since your little brother was around.

Stan smiled at you. "Ready?"

"Mhm." You nodded as he opened the door for you and stepped inside. He carefully closed the door and made his way to the driver's side. After closing the door and you were all buckled up, he drove off.

"So, Luke, how's the training coming along? Team making progress?" Stan asked.

"Yeah, coach says by the end of the month we'll be going up against our first competitors," Luke replied.

"I'm sure you guys will win," Stan remarked. You took out your phone to check through your social media. You almost jumped when you felt a hand see Stan rubbing your leg. You nervously gave a quick glance to him and then to the back to see Luke was busy on his phone now.

You could see Stan smirking as you pouted. He certainly was enjoying seeing you get nervous.

Soon you arrived to the school building and Luke thanked Stan for the ride as he got out and walked off. Stan drove to the high school's lot and parked the truck. You both undid your seat belts, but before either of you stepped out, he pulled you to him and gave you a quick kiss.

Your eyes widened as you blushed at the sudden action. "Stan..."

"Just so you won't miss me too much when we're in separate classes," he said with a smirk. "I have practice later today, see you there?"

"Um... yeah, sure." You nodded. You both exited the vehicle and made your way into the high school building. Stan was immediately greeted by his friends... and Cartman. Kyle took notice of you and had a huge grin as he moved closer and said your name.

"It's great to see you with us again!"

You smiled. "Kyle, you act as if I left the school."

"Well, you might as well have. We hardly saw you anymore!" he stated. "Hope you don't plan on leaving us again."

"Jesus, Kyle, that's why she probably stopped hanging out with us, 'cause you get all clingy and stuff," Cartman complained.

"Or maybe she got tired of your fat ass and your constant insults!"

The both of them started arguing and you rolled you eyes. Your smile faded when your eyes meet Kenny's blue ones. He wasn't smiling and he didn't wave either. He had his hands shoved in his pockets and his frame was somewhat slumped as he turned away from your stare.

This... was going to be a bit awkward. You couldn't believe you had forgotten that yesterday you had rejected Kenny's feelings for you after you had also practically abandoned him that Saturday at the mall. You felt guilty about that and you wanted to talk to him, clear the air with him.

"Stan." You couldn't believe it. Just like that you felt a hint of irritation as her voice hit your ears. You turned to see Wendy now stood before Stan, arms crossed and a serious look in her eyes. "Can we talk?"

"Sure Wendy, what's up?"

You saw that Wendy looked at you and the guys, obviously wanting privacy. Kyle scratched the back of his neck. "I gotta head to class. Gotta finish some Calculus problems." He walked off.

"Come on Kenny, might as well head to class," Cartman stated as Kenny followed him.

"Guess I'll be heading there too," you said as you were about to leave.

"Um, no, wait. I need to return your notes from Earth Science," Stan spoke. "And since we have the first lesson together, might as well wait."

You weren't sure you wanted to. But you ended up nodding and said a soft, "Ok." You kept your distance from the pair, but were able to slightly overhear what they were talking about.

"I'm sorry I was pushing you too hard. But you know, you have to keep your grades up if you're gonna stay in the football team," Wendy said.

"I know. And I'm glad you were willing to help me," Stan spoke. "But... I just get frustrated when I don't understand something... I feel like you treat me like an idiot."

No words for a moment and you peaked over to see Wendy had wrapped her arms around Stan's waist. You immediately looked away, feeling jealous. "I'm sorry, baby," she cooed.

' _I'm sorry baby... blech!_ ' You rolled you eyes as you mocked her in your mind. You were tempted to just storm off to your class.

"How about we meet later today..." "Can't. I have football practice," Stan interrupted.

"Well, after that. We can go to my place," Wendy offered.

"Sorry Wendy, but I don't think we should be study partners. We saw it only frustrated us. Don't worry though, I already have someone that can help me out."

When you heard your name you looked over at them. Wendy turned to look at you. It was hard to tell from her expression what she was feeling, though you swore she gave a small death glare your way. But maybe you were overthinking things.

"Well... I guess I can't complain. You always seem to understand things when she explains them to you..." You heard her sigh. "Well, I'll see you at practice then?"

"Yeah, sure," Stan stated. You watched as they gave each other a quick kiss and felt like puking at that moment. They hugged, Stan looked up at you and you noticed him give you a small smile. You didn't return it as you looked away. "See you later." After another quick kiss Wendy left and Stan walked to you.

You didn't let him speak as you walked towards the stairwell to head to your first lesson. You felt Stan grab your wrist and turned to him. "Stan, we better get to..." You didn't finish your sentence as he pulled you away. He made sure nobody saw as he pulled you into the Janitor's Closet and trapped you by the wall.

"You're jealous?" he asked, clearly amused. You scowled as you tried pushing him away, but no luck. "Would a little kiss make you feel better?"

Your face heated up. "W-We're gonna be late for class."

"Then you better shut up," he said with a small chuckle as he leaned in. You hesitated at first, but were unable fight it for long as his scent dazed you and his lips caught yours in a tender kiss. Your hands loosened up and you rested them on his chest as you kissed.

When you had a small moment to breath, you murmured his name, "Stan..."

His pulled a hand away from the wall and with his index finger gently traced your lips, trailing down to your chin, then to the collar of your turtleneck. He lowered it a bit and you felt him trace the hickey he had left yesterday. You swallowed hard as you felt your body heating up.

He dipped his head at the crook of your neck and kissed the love mark. He kissed every bit of your skin as he moved back up to your lips. You felt like you would melt then and there as his hands now rested on your sides as he kissed you.

At that moment you knew...

You knew this time there was no going back, no pushing away.

You fell back into the addiction. And you didn't care anymore. You didn't care about Wendy or the fact that she was technically still Stan's girlfriend.

**All that mattered was that he wanted you. His best friend...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **And there you have it! Stan has officially cheated on Wendy with you, from this moment you are now lovers. The next chapter will be (hopefully) coming soon!**


	16. |Friends|

**You gently stroke the area of your neck where he had left his mark...**

Whatever the teacher was saying wasn't really sticking at this moment. You were too busy remembering the heated make out session you had this morning with Stan and then again during lunch.

You both stayed in the empty classroom for almost the whole lunch period. When you both headed to the cafeteria for the remainder 10 minutes, you were questioned about your whereabouts.

"I'm having some problems in Earth Science. And with a test tomorrow, I need to study as much as I can," Stan had replied easily.

You were surprised at how quick he thought of an excuse. But were glad as well.

You felt someone poked your side and looked over to see Nichole with a worried expression. You wondered why for a moment.

Until you heard someone cleared his throat and you looked to the front to see your teacher with his arms crossed as he stared at you.

"Um... Huh?" was all you could say.

"Miss Moore, perhaps you would like to share with us what was so important that you tuned out most of my lecture?"

Fuck! He put you on the spot! Your faced reddened in embarrassment as some of your classmates snickered.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." You apologized. It was all you could say.

"I suggest you start paying more attention. Next time, it will be cleaning duties after school," he earned and you nodded.

He went back to his lecture. You decided to at least look at the book, though you certainly had no idea where he even was reading from.

**~After School, Lockers~**

You heard Lance called out your name as he and one of his friends came up to you.

"Hey, what's up?" you asked as you closed your locker.

"We were just heading to the auditorium to add a few final touches. Seeing as the performance will be coming up soon. We want to make sure it looks its best. Coming?"

You smiled and nodded. "Of course!"

The three of you headed off to the auditorium where the rest of the Event Committee were, discussing things with...

You stopped on your tracks as you recognized the silky long black hair and obvious purple coat as well as the pink hat she wore.

"I'm impressed, not many tend to stay under the budget itself," you heard her say.

"We managed to get some of the art students to help," one of the members remarked. "Oh! She's the one that helped us the most!" She waved you over and you would had walked away had she not called you by name.

Wendy immediately turned to the direction you stood. Lance and his friend headed towards the stage. The eager teen walked to you and took hold of your hand, practically dragging you over.

"She did most of the set! Thanks to her, we managed to stay on budget! She's also our newest member, talk about lucky!" she stated.

You blushed in embarrassment. "Um, no, everyone did their part. I couldn't have done it without all their and your help," you spoke up.

"Mimi! Do you have the list of the participants?" Lance called out.

Mimi - the eager girl beside you - headed off to where he was.

You were quiet for a moment, not certain what to even do. You were about to head towards the stage.

"I didn't know you were in the Event Committee," Wendy spoke up.

You shrugged. "It's not like we talk." Your tone wasn't sharp, but you were pretty blunt.

There is a few seconds of awkward silence. "The set looks very nice though. What did you do?"

"Painting mostly. Some of the floral arrangements but most of them were done thanks to other classmates. They all did great."

"It's beautiful," Wendy complimented. You remained quiet for a moment. You rubbed your neck for a moment before she spoke again. "Oh! I better get going! I wanna see the football team before they finish practice!"

Oh shit! Your eyes widened when she said that. You remembered that you had told Stan you would see him at practice today! Wendy said goodbye to everyone and walked out. You were about to head out as well.

But Lance called out to you. "Mimi needs some help putting some of the decorations up by that wall. Can you help, please? I need to go to the office to get an update on the participants list."

"I thought Mimi had that," you remarked curiously.

He shook his head. "There have been some changes this morning and I have to let the principal know. Be right back!" He and one of his friends walked out, leaving you with Mimi and a few others on the other side of the stage, doing their own prepping. You sighed as you took out your phone and texted Stan that you wouldn't be able to make it to his practice and maybe you could see each other after school.

After that you turned and walked up the steps on to the stage and towards the bleached-blonde girl. "So..." Mimi began as you climbed the step-ladder and took the paper she handed you and started checking where it could go. "...you have a boyfriend, or something?" she asked.

You stopped for a moment and arched a brow her direction. "Um... I'm not..."

"Oh! No, no! That's not what I was gonna say!" she immediately exclaimed with a small laugh and her hands waving wildly. Her expression then became somewhat mischievous. "I asked because I was wondering who gave you that hickey peeking out of your collar."

"Huh?!" You accidentally dropped the decoration as you immediately placed a hand on the side of your neck and your cheeks were burning up. "I-I don't h-have a h-hickey!" you semi-yelled, loud enough for Mimi to hear, but not too loud that the others across the other end would.

She placed a hand on her waist as she gave you a look as if to say 'Really?!', as if you were assuming her to be an idiot. "Girl, you immediately covered the hickey once I mentioned it." She went ahead and picked up the decoration and handed it to you. "So, who is it?" She smiled, the silver of her braces somewhat reflecting the light in the right angle.

"I... I don't think that's any of your business," you said as politely as you could. She handed you another decoration and you placed it on the wall.

"Is it one of those boys you hang out with? Is it the cute one with green eyes and curly red hair?!"

"Kyle?" you asked.

"Yeah! That one!"

You shook your head. "No. It's none of them!" She handed you another decoration to place on the wall. "If it'll make you stop asking questions, it's a bruise. My brother Luke accidentally hit me with a Wii remote while we were playing."

You noticed Mimi had a skeptical expression, but there's no way you were going to admit the truth! "You're all red," she pointed out with a wide grin.

You pouted as you hung the last decoration and carefully walked off the step-ladder. You studied the wall and smiled. "I think it looks rather nice, huh?"

"You're avoiding the question," Mimi said as she moved closer.

You frowned. "No. I just decided not to answer, is all."

The blonde crossed her arms. "You're no fun."

You giggled. "Nope!"

Though at first you had been anxious to finish soon, as time passed, you pretty much had forgotten that feeling and ended up helping out some more, even after Lance and Lewis had returned.

Half an hour later you waved good-bye to your fellow committee members as you walked down the hallway and towards the entrance of the school. There you saw Stan. He wasn't wearing his hat as usual and once you got closer you realized why as you caught a whiff of his body wash.

He turned to look at you and smiled. "Hey, how was the meeting?"

"We just needed to do a few final touches to the stage today, nothing much."

"I'm sure it's coming along great." Without a word he leaned closer, but you placed a hand on his chest and looked around. "Nobody's around. Almost everyone's already gone," he assured you.

You shook your head. "We really shouldn't. One of the members saw the hickey you left me and was a bit nosy about it. Maybe you should take me home now."

Stan sighed and nodded as he placed his hand on your back as he led you outside the school building. "Babysitting today?"

"Yes. So I have to go straight to the community center to pick up Luke and after that, home to make dinner." You both were in the parking lot of the school and he opened the door for you. But before you managed to go in, Stan gently pressed you against the side of his truck, leaned in close and kissed your lips. You closed your eyes and wrapped your arms around his neck, moaning against his lips and pulled him closer. Stan's lips separated from yours, leaving you completely breathless and aching for more.

He smiled as he lightly traced your lips with his finger. "Look at you. Just a moment ago you told me it wasn't a good idea to kiss and now, you're practically turned on."

You opened your eyes a bit, a blushing mess when he said that and you lightly pushed him away from you. "D-Don't b-be such an idiot..." you stuttered. "T-Take me to the center!" You managed to step inside and were glad to be sitting down, otherwise you would had fallen to the floor due to your knees being weakened after that heated kiss. You heard Stan snickered as he carefully closed the passenger side door and walked over to the driver's seat. He closed the door and you both buckled up before he started the truck and pulled out.

The whole ride, Stan would sometimes reach over and caressed your leg. It made you shudder in delight and you even gave out a soft moan once as his fingers had managed to gingerly touch your inner thigh. You hated him for doing so, because now you felt heated and wanted so badly for him to fuck you. But you were soon at the center and you took a minute to cool down before you got out and headed inside.

Luke walked over to you. "Hey, how was practice?" you asked.

"Good! Coach told us he's gonna sign us up for a Junior competition that'll be taking place soon!"

You smiled. "Congrats!" You led him outside.

"Huh? Stan?" he sounded surprised. "Did my sister drag you all the way here?" he asked.

Your eyes widened in shock at the accusation. "O-Of course not!"

Stan smiled. "I offered to pick you guys up, little man. The least I can do since your big sis is helping me out with my studies."

"Pfft, you're the one that wants to fail I guess," Luke said as he climbed to the back and buckled up.

You scowled at him. "Luke Moore! I'm warning you!" Stan only laughed a bit as you got in and closed the door to your side and buckled up as well.

It didn't took long to arrive home and all three of you walked inside. You closed the door and told Luke to start on his homework as you made your way to the kitchen to see what was in the fridge for dinner.

"Need any help?" Stan asked.

You looked at him. "Mmm, think you can cook the ground beef while I boil the water and noodles?" you asked with a smile.

"No problem."

It felt real nice cooking alongside Stan. You couldn't help but imagined that this is how it would be like if you two were together... not just a couple... but married.

You shook your head. 'Who _a! Slow down there!_ _You two aren't even a couple!_ ' You carefully placed the noodles in the salted water. ' _What exactly are we...? Are we friends with benefits again? Are we just a fling? Or... am I... possibly a girlfriend?_ '

You hated that those thoughts were invading your mind at this time. It only led to more questions that you had no answers to.

And some you didn't want answered... in fear it won't be the response you wished to hear. "Is everything ok? You look a little lost."

You turned to Stan and smiled. "I'm ok. Just... thinking..."

"About?"

"Um... about how nice it feels, cooking with you." It wasn't a complete lie. You just omitted the parts that would obviously only cause an argument between the both of you. There was no reason to bring those up.

And it was a good thing you didn't brought them up. Stan smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it does feel nice, huh?" Yeah. It did. What more could you ask for?

After all, he was happy and you felt happy that he wanted to spend time with you. More than anything, you preferred seeing him smiling. Seeing your happy Stan.

As you cooked, you discussed some random things. About school, your idiot friends, and how things were going with the team as well. Once you finished making dinner, you left it to cool down for a bit and the both of you headed to the living room to study a bit.

You looked through his notes. "Mmm, so what are you having trouble with?"

"Mostly memorizing some of this stuff. This chapter is going to be on the test tomorrow and some of the stuff I get confused with," he remarked as he pointed it out.

"Alright, well, let's see what we can do," you said with a smile. It was never a chore to help out Stan. You were used to it. Almost every moment there has been someone you helped out. You sometimes help Luke study.

And though you didn't wish to recall even the good times, in the past, you used to help out Craig study as well.

You were patient and made sure to pace yourself with them, no matter who it was you were helping.

You didn't go too fast and always made sure to ask questions to see what it is he understood from the study session. He would feel proud when he would get an answer right and you would clap happily.

After your little study session, Stan put away his books and notebooks. "Thanks again. You always manage to make everything seem much easier."

You giggled. "Not everything. Trust me, I wish I could find someone that'll help me study for my French quizzes and tests."

Stan chuckled. "I told you to take Spanish instead," he reminded.

"Boy please! You're having trouble in that class as well!" you said with a small laugh. You checked the clock. "Oh! It's already dinner time! Luke! Time to eat!"

Stan helped you set up the dining table. Luke rushed downstairs and took a seat in his usual place. "You joining us for dinner, Stan?" he asked.

He nodded. "Well, if there's no problem."

You shook your head. "None at all." You served everyone and then took your seat beside Stan. "Alright, dig in!"

**~Next Day, School~**

"How'd it go?" you asked as you reached Stan's desk.

He looked up at you as he closed his book bag. "I gotta say, it didn't look as tough as the quiz last week." He smiled.

You smiled back. "That's good news! I'm sure you got them all right!"

"I wouldn't go that far," he admitted as he stood up. "There were some that slipped my mind, but I do have a good feeling."

You giggled. "Have a little faith in yourself." You both walked together out of the classroom. "After all, you had a great tutor."

Stan lightly shoved you with his shoulder. "Quit stroking yourself."

You rolled your eyes and were about to say a comeback when he slightly leaned to you and whispered, "I rather you stroke me."

Your cheeks turned a bright crimson as you shoved him away from you. "I-Idiot! Come on! We better get down to lunch!"

You both headed downstairs and to the cafeteria, heading over to the usual table with the other three. Stan took a seat and you took yours beside him. "Hey guys," you greeted with a smile.

Kyle greeted you with a wave and smile, while Cartman just waved dismissively as he kept talking to Kenny about something. And Kenny didn't even stopped chatting with Cartman to even say a hello.

It made you feel a bit unwelcome. You decided not to pay any mind to it. After all, it wasn't your fault he was acting this way. You decided perhaps you should just let him cool off and hopefully things could go back to the way they were before.

The rest of the day and the following day was pretty uneventful. Most of your time was spent talking to Stan at school when you could, going to the event committee meeting after school on Wednesday and on Thursday being able to go see Stan at practice. Unfortunately the two of you couldn't spend the afternoons together either of those days since on Wednesday you had to pick up Luke and on Thursday Stan was called in for work. But before he dropped you off at home, you both had a small make-out session in his truck.

**###**

That night, you were brushing your hair before you would head to bed. You had a pleasant dinner with your mother and Luke. You enjoyed the family atmosphere whenever she was home. When it's just Luke and you, it always felt a bit lonely for the both of you.

You placed your hairbrush down on your desk and your eyes immediately caught sight of something. The bag with the cute red ribbon. It contained the last few candies that you had received from your secret admirer.

Come to think of it, you hadn't even received a text from him these past days. You wondered if he was alright. You were tempted to text him, but... you weren't sure if it was a good idea.

Then a sudden thought hit you!

At the same time he had stopped contacting you, was at the same day Kenny had confessed his feelings to you... and you rejected him.

' _Kenny?! My secret admirer?!_ ' You thought as you stared at the bag with the red ribbon. But when you had asked him back then, he had denied it!

Then again... he probably didn't want you to know... yet.

Could it be that he was trying to win your affection before confessing? But then why would he confess without knowing if you had feelings for him or not? Wouldn't it had been safer to wait?

Not that it would had made any difference for you.

You thought about your conversations with your secret admirer. You never truly promised anything. They were mostly simple conversations, idle banter here and there. Nothing flirty.

Right?

But you could also sort of see how Kenny would get the wrong impression. What with you accepting the many gifts and even getting really happy whenever he would text you.

You had a serious expression on your face. ' _I have to talk to him..._ '

**~Next Day, School~**

You had hoped that you would be able to talk to him in the morning but he was busy talking to some girls. You had tried to walk up to him, but it seemed he didn't even took noticed of you. Either that or he was purposely ignoring you like the past couple of days.

After classes he just seemed to take off without hesitation. In American Literature, Cartman was even calling to him, but he walked out. He definitely was avoiding you. Especially now that you were hanging out with them again.

At lunch you didn't have a moment to bring up anything 'cause the boys were busy discussing something about some online game they were planning to play once they got home. Kyle invited you as well, and soon after Kenny had said he was busy.

Though it could be true, you had a gut feeling he was only saying that so he wouldn't have to be in the same room as you for much longer than he already had to. After that he excused himself from the table and left.

You planned to go after him.

But Kyle called to you. "So you coming or not?"

"Um, yeah sure. I'll be there," you replied with a smile.

You figured you would have to catch Kenny after school.

**~Football Practice~**

"Whoo! Go Kenny!" One of the girls by the bleachers shouted. It wasn't strange having female spectators around when the boys played. They were athletes and bound to attract the most attention.

Kyle, Kenny, Craig, and Clyde called for the most attention. Stan and Token were popular as well, but seeing as they were both taken, not many girls focused on them, afraid they'd be labeled as boyfriend thieves.

You watched as the boys did a decent job at practice. The coach blew his whistle.

"Marsh! Focus! McCormick! Stick to the game plan and quit showing off! Tucker! Enough daydreaming and hustle!"

Guess they weren't doing such a good job. You thought as you watched them.

After a while, the coach blew his whistle again. "Alright ladies! I'm gonna be clear! That was not the greatest play I have ever seen! You gotta stop getting distracted! That's all for today! Dismissed!"

At that you made sure to keep an eye on Kenny so he wouldn't slink away from you again. Two girls ran past you and reached Kenny. You decided to take this opportunity and walked over to them.

"Kenny." You made sure you sounded stern as you placed a hand on your waist.

The girls looked at you as if they wanted to shoot daggers at you for interrupting their time with Kenny.

"I need to talk to you," you added, not wavering a bit.

Kenny nodded. "I'll meet you girls by the doors," he said with a wink, causing them to giggle as they walked away. He looked uncomfortable as he stood before you. "Ok. What do you want?" he asked.

You frowned. "What do I want? What do you think? You've been avoiding me," you replied, hurt that he had to even ask.

Kenny scratched the back of his neck as he kept his gaze away from yours.

You stepped closer and placed your hands on his face and turned his head to face you. "Look at me!" His blue eyes landed on yours for the first time since his confession.

"I'm sorry I ever gave you any false hopes... I never meant to lead you on, Kenny. I always thought you knew that I cared about you as a friend alone. If I ever made it look like I was interested in anything more, I'm sorry..."

As you pulled your hands away, one of his hand landed on one of yours and he leaned his head against it before he moved it to his lips. A smirk on his handsome face as he gave your palm a kiss and you immediately pulled it away from his grip, feeling embarrassed that you fell for that.

"You're gonna make me regret even trying!" you scolded.

Kenny sighed. "I like you and I still do. It's gonna take me a while to get over this feeling."

"Hmph." You arched a brow. "Really? Cause it seemed you have completely forgotten when you were with those floozies," you added.

You felt him leaned closer, that stupid grin still on his face. "Sounds like someone's jealous."

"Not one bit, idiot," you assured.

He chuckled. "Then why call them floozies?"

"I've seen them around. And if you know what's good for you, you won't even think about... well, you know."

He murmured something under his breath but you didn't managed to catch it. You were both quiet for a moment.

"So, do I have a shot?" He grinned again.

"Kenny..." You sighed. This wasn't what you wanted. "I wanted to talk to you because I missed us being friends. I don't like the awkwardness or having to avoid each other because of something like this."

The blond steps closer. "That wasn't technically a no."

"I swear...! You're not even listening!"

"I am. You don't like me the way I like you. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't try winning your affection, right?"

You shook your head. "No, Kenny. I just want us to be friends again. That's not going to change. Ever."

"Never?"

You looked at him in the eyes. "Never."

There was a moment of silence between you both. You were afraid that you will never have your friend back. He was crushing on you badly.

To your surprise he smiled and shrugged. "I gave it a shot."

You rubbed your arm as you looked down. "I'm sorry..." you apologized again.

Kenny placed a hand on your shoulder. "Hey, don't be. Can't change how we feel, huh. Honestly, I do hate that awkwardness too. But, can't help it when it hurts having you so close."

"I guess I was being a little selfish... I just hate the idea of losing those I care about..." You hugged yourself as you felt your body shivered at that thought.

Your eyes widened in surprise when Kenny brought your smaller frame against his body.

"You won't lose me. Not as a friend."

You teared up a bit as you hugged him back, you clung to him to make sure it wasn't just in your imagination. It made you feel better that Kenny didn't hate you. Like every single on of the others, he had a way of making you smile and laugh. You needed your friends by your side. You wanted them by your side. Losing any one of them was always going to be upsetting for you.

After all, you had lost  _them._ You refused to lose these guys.

It upset you that he still had feelings for you, but... You pulled back a bit and smiled at him. "You'll find the right girl someday. Trust me."

"Mm, that's the problem, I think I did found her already..." He gently held your chin with his thumb and index finger. "But turns out she don't like me that way..."

You frowned and pulled your head away from his grip. "Don't be ridiculous. You'll see, eventually, she'll turn up."

"Kenny!" one of the girls from earlier called out.

The blond teen pulled away from you. "So, I guess I'll see you at Kyle's later then?"

You smiled and nodded. "See you there." And he flashed his biggest smile before he headed off.

You felt good being able to make up with Kenny. You checked your cell to see the time. "Oh! Hope Stan hasn't left!" You rushed towards the gym, where the changing rooms where.

Your spirits were high today. You really were looking forward to spending time with the guys. You reached the gym and were headed towards the small hall that lead to both gym

"Oh! Congratulations!"

Wendy's voice made you stop and you quickly hid by the wall. Wait! Why were you hiding?! You were only going to ask Stan for a ride...

' _Then again you are screwing him..._ ' Shut up! You frowned as your mind seemed to constantly be in an argument with you since that day.

You heard Stan said it was thanks to you and gave a small smile. But it vanished once you heard Wendy give him a kiss and crossed your arms.

"I'll have to thank her for always being patient with you," Wendy spoke.

'Hmp _h! I don't need your thanks!_ ' You were annoyed.

"How about we go and celebrate? Mm? A nice dinner sounds about right," she offered.

You rolled your eyes. They were going to fight again since Stan had already said he was going to hang out with the rest of you.

"You know, I think that sounds nice."

You were surprised to hear his answer. Did he really just actually accepted Wendy's invitation?! It shouldn't be a surprise to you. After all, she is his girlfriend, it's only natural he would spend some of his time with her.

You didn't want to hear anymore and decided to just leave them alone. It was a bit of a slow walk. You thought hard about the situation. ' _Is this going to always happen? Stan only comes to me when he needs something...? Or when he's angry at Wendy?_ '

What else did you want to happen? Did you actually think he wanted to be with you? Did you want more out of this? Did you go into this expecting more this time?' _It all just happened so fast that I didn't even had a chance to think things through..._ '

Well... that wasn't exactly true. You had two more days to think about what you were doing.

But then again... those days Stan showered you with so much affection that it made it impossible for you to even think.

No, you weren't trying to pin all the blame on Stan, you knew this was also your fault. You could had said no. You should had said no.

As you were heading towards the entrance of the school, Kyle called out to you and you looked over to see him.

"Hey, have you seen Stan? He's taking longer than usual to change. Is he still at the changing room?"

You nodded. "Yeah, but I wouldn't go if I were you. He's with Wendy..."

"Oh? Fighting again?"

"Surprisingly no," you admitted. "She invited him to have dinner with her and he accepted." Your eyes widened as you blushed in embarrassment. "N-Not that I was eavesdropping or anything! I was looking for him and just overheard it at the moment!" you quickly added.

Kyle smiled. "It's ok, I didn't think that to begin with."

You sighed in relief. Kyle was such a sweetheart. He always seemed to give you the benefit of the doubt. One of the reasons you liked him. He never pried into your business. "I guess it'll be just us four, huh?"

"Um... yeah sure. But I'm not being the referee," you remarked. You had planned on going home since Stan was going to be with Wendy, but you didn't want to hurt Kyle's feelings so you decided to go ahead and spend some time with the guys.

**After all, you deserved to have a little distraction as well.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A simple filler-like chapter. A little break from all the drama that usually takes place between Stan and you (and Wendy). But next chapter is back to the drama! XD**


	17. |A Promise|

**He stared at the stone that rested in the box...**

He had kept it all these years. He gently ran his thumb against the cold texture and frowned.

He got off his bed and walked towards the garbage can in his room.

There was no reason to hold on to it right? He tried and she pulled away. It wasn't going anywhere. She clearly wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

...

And yet... why was it so hard to let go of the box that contained what has been so precious to him all these years...?

**###**

"Ow! Watch it!"

"If you hold still I wouldn't be poking you, now would I?" Mimi said as she carefully placed another pin on the fabric to hold it in place.

You scoffed. "Why am I being your guinea pig again?"

"Because the girl wearing this dress is about your size and height."

"You can tell my size by looking at me?" You raised a brow, skeptical about it.

Mimi smiled. "It's a gift. Why do you think I'm the one in charge of that kind of stuff in the committee? You wouldn't believe how many last minute changes there have been in the past!"

It was around late 11 on a Saturday early afternoon and you were at Mimi's place. She had called you earlier, pleading that you help her with something although she had refused to tell you with what so you had accepted.

You knew at that moment why she refused to tell you. "Doesn't give you the right to treat others like your personal dolls," you huffed. "Ow! You did that on purpose!"

Mimi rolled her eyes. "Quite being such a baby. I'm almost done." You weren't exactly sure what she was doing, but you had to admit as much as you hated standing still for a long period of time, you enjoyed seeing Mimi at work. Her hands moving about, turning any loose cloth into something. The fabric began taking a recognizable form.

"Done!" She chirped and you sighed in relief. "Give me a twirl, I wanna see how it flows."

You did what she asked and heard her murmured in delight while also noting some things she might change.

"Stunning!"

She rushed off and you wondered for a moment if you could move but she quickly returned with a mirror and showed you. "What do you think?"

You were surprised and amazed at the work. The girl managed to put together a rather simple, but lovely dress. It's layered hem at the front reached just above your knees and as it went to the back it lowered, reaching to your feet and still some more of the fabric stretched out. It was strapless and a lovely shade of red, not too bright but not too dull either.

"It's beautiful," you remarked.

"Thanks. I still have to add a bit of decoration here by the waist area and it'll be done!"

"I'm sure the girl wearing this will be happy with how it turned out."

Mimi smiled. "I hope so. Phew, cause sometimes they can all be rather ungrateful. They forget we're the ones that put all of this together. Without us, their performances wouldn't have any style!"

You giggled. "Well, thanks. I enjoy seeing the performances every year!"

"You're welcome!"

You both giggled for a moment. After you were done, Mimi invited you to hang out for a bit.

You accepted. You never realized until then but you hardly had any girlfriends. The only people you hung out with were the guys. And before them... also guys!

The both of you went to City Wok to order some Chinese food.

"The service is terrible, but the food is great. I heard before it used to be just one man in charge of everything," she told you as you both waited for your food.

"It was," you told her. "The manager wasn't the greatest, but since cooks were hired, it's been better."

"Number 165! Order up!"

Mimi and you stood up and she grabbed the bag and thanked the person before you both walked out and headed off.

"Hey, Mimi."

"Mm?"

"What made you want to join the event committee?"

She thought for a moment. "Well, I think it was because I wanted to help create something memorable. We take care of everything, from small celebrations to big things like the Prom! I like seeing how we can make something come to life!"

You liked how excited she looked when talking about it. She took it seriously, but always remembered to have fun as well.

"What about you? What made you join this year?"

"Mmm... I'll be honest, I was only planning to stay until they no longer needed volunteers. Mrs. Dunn was the one that suggested I help and I had to admit it was a good distraction for me."

"Distraction?"

You nodded.

"From what?"

"Um, from... school and... other stuff."  _Like my love life!_  You obviously weren't going to tell her that though.

There is a moment of silence between the both of you. "Like a distraction from the one that gave you that hickey?"

You frowned. "I told you..."

"Oh! Right! I meant to say, that 'bruise' on your neck?"

"I'm not saying another word." You picked up the pace.

"Ohhh, come on!" She ran after you.

**~Your House~**

After spending most of your morning with Mimi, you were pretty much exhausted by the time you returned home. It was a whole hour of standing for her to finish that damn dress and then afterwards dealing with her nosy questions. Of course, after a while, you both talked more about the club and any ideas you might have for any future events. The upcoming performance was going to be for Valentine's Day.

With all the stuff that's been going on, you had forgotten about the day. Not that you cared much for it since you never had a boyfriend before. You did made chocolates for the boys before. Nothing too fancy.

But... would that be wise this year?

Kenny had confessed he has feelings for you and he might still have them. Would it be bad to give him chocolates? And what about Stan? Should you give him anything?

This was only giving you a small headache.

You stretched out your arms and checked your phone to see it was 3:32 PM. "Guess I'll take a shower." You headed upstairs and towards your room to get what you needed then headed to the bathroom for a relaxing shower.

It felt good just having the water hit your body. You grabbed the sponger and scrubbed every inch of your body. As you were washing off the soap, your hand lingered on your neck for a second, but you pushed away any thoughts of Stan and finished your shower.

You stepped out and dried yourself off, wrapping the towel around your figure. You wrapped a smaller towel on your head and headed off to your room. Once in there you saw the light on the corner of you phone was blinking. You had a message.

You wondered if Mimi forgot to ask you something and picked it up, checking to see. You saw it was actually Stan that had texted you. You opened the message.

**= So you gonna give me the silent treatment all weekend? =**

You couldn't believe he would ask that. You texted back.

**= What?! I answered your text yesterday =**

A reply was sent soon after you sent yours.

**= A one worded answer... =**

**= Well what else did you want me to say? =**

You placed the phone on your bed since he seemed to be taking his time answering back. You placed your hands on the towel on your head and started drying your hair with it. You removed it and ran it down to the end of your strands.

Your phone rings and you placed the towel beside you and looked at the message.

**= What about today? =**

You texted.  **= I was busy. I barely got home. =**  You sent the message. You weren't sure if you should had told him that. Maybe you should had lied and said you were out enjoying your time. But you had no energy to lie right now.

Instantly you got a reply.  **= Alone? =**  You arched a brow. Why would he ask that? You were about to send your reply, but he sent another one.  **= Or were you with Kenny? =**

That surprised you. Why would he think that? You sent him your message.  **= What? Why would you even think I was with Kenny? =**

You placed the phone down for a moment and ran your fingers through your hair to untangle it. Though it was only for a few seconds since Stan sent his message right away. You picked up your phone again.

**= You seemed real chummy with him yesterday at the field... Not to mention all day you were distracted. Was it cause of him? =**

He saw you talking to him on the field after practice. Did he also see him hug you? And did he hear your conversation? But immediately you glared at your screen as you sent him a message.

**= Tch! You're one to talk! Seeing as how you and Wendy were all kissy-kissy in the gym yesterday... =**

You sent. This time you held your phone, waiting for his reply. He sent it.

**= Wendy's my girlfriend... It's natural for us to be that way... =**

That hurt. It wasn't the answer you had expected. You angrily texted back.

**= Then go be with her instead of bugging me, Marsh! =**

You clicked sent and slammed your phone on the bed and placed your pillow on top of it as you crossed your arms. He made you so mad! You heard your phone again but this time you ignored it and grabbed your brush. You weren't in the mood to hear - or in this case - read, Stan's excuses.

After getting dressed and brushing your hair you decided to go through Facebook for a while. You saw you were tagged on a picture and it was the dress Mimi had been working on earlier. You saw she had added the decoration she had been stating earlier and were impressed with the lovely work.

You saw the reactions and read the comments she was getting, including one from the girl the dress had been made for. You smiled at all the wonderful compliments Mimi received. You saw you were tagged in one of the messages and it was Kenny.

-I'm sure you looked real pretty in that dress! <3-

And Mimi had given it a thumbs up reaction. You decided to reply to his comment.

-Nah XP But I was happy to be able to help her!-

You pressed the button to send the reply and continued looking through Facebook and just enjoying videos, memes, and catching up with family members.

**~Sunday, Park~**

You and your mother were watching Luke and his team practicing. It was fairly warm despite it being February, so the coach decided to get the team together for an extra day of practice. You clapped when Luke scored again and cheered.

"Great job Luke!" The coach called out. "Come on team! Keep going! Keep making those scores!"

"Luke is amazing out there," your mother noted with a smile.

You nodded. "He's been pushing himself rather hard recently though. I think he's nervous about the possibility of being in his first match."

"I'm sure he'll do wonderfully," she remarked.

After another twenty minutes of practice, the coach blew his whistle. "Alright, fifteen minutes break! Then we'll finish off with some passes!"

Luke made his way to you both and your mother handed him a bottle of water and he drank it.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Good. I managed to score every time today."

You smiled. "Great job, short stuff. Want me to get you anything?"

Luke wiped his lips and nodded. "Another bottle of water would be great."

"I'll be right back." You grabbed your bag from the bench and made your way towards the building not far from the field.

You walked inside and towards the counter. "A bottle of water please?" You waited as the young man went to the small fridge and then handed you a cold bottle. You paid the cost and thanked him.

As you turned to walk away you were surprised to see who stood before you.

"Stan..." You looked down.

"Hey..."

You both remained quiet for a moment. "You're here to see those kids practicing on the field huh..."

You nodded. "Yeah, Luke's in that team..." You fiddled with the bottle. "Um, are you here with the guys?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "No. Wendy and I are..."

"Forget I asked," you interrupted. Another moment of silence. "Well, I better head back now..."

As you were leaving you felt a grip on your arm and looked at Stan. His blue eyes had a serious glint to them. "Come here..."

He didn't gave you much of a choice as he pulled you away from the main lobby of the building. You saw him go straight into an empty room. You saw it was the computer lab and looked at him.

"Now we can talk."

"What if someone...?"

"Nobody will," he assured you. "The computers are all off on Sundays. Now stop wasting time."

You looked at him. "What do you want?"

"About yesterday..."

You sighed. "Look I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted the way I did. You're right, Wendy's your girlfriend. It's natural to spend time with her. I was just..." You bit your lip, not wanting to say it.

Stan stood there. You swallowed the lump that was stuck in your throat.

He said your name in such a soft tone that you swore you could forgive anything at that moment.

"What do you think you are?"

You hesitated. You didn't want to upset him. "I... I don't know..." It was true. You were so confused at this moment. "A passing fling...?"

He stayed quiet for a moment. "Are you asking or answering?"

You couldn't hold it anymore. "Stan... you know how I feel about you... I've felt this way since our first year in high school... and maybe even before that. From the moment you stood by my side after... after my father passed away... You saved me from being an empty shell and almost getting myself killed. I'll always be grateful to you for that..."

You looked down. "But this whole situation isn't helping me. I don't wanna get my hopes up but I don't know how much of this I can really take. It's like you enjoy torturing me this way. One minute you make me feel like I mean something and the next, it's like I'm nothing but a passing fling! I know before I said I was ok with this, but now... now I'm not so sure... I want more Stan. And if you can't give me that then... I don't think this should continue..."

Silence.

' _Please say something..._ ' You pleaded internally. You hated the sudden quiet atmosphere. Did you made him angry? You were about to speak again when you felt Stan's hand on your shoulder. You looked up at him at him, you felt his hands rested on your waist as he kissed your forehead.

"You know I care about you..." That was it? "The way I care about you is different than what I feel when I'm with Wendy." He pulled you closer, your lips and his so very close.

"You're more than my best friend. That much I am certain about..."

"Stan..."

He gave your lips a light kiss. "But I need you to give me some time. To get this feeling sorted out. Please?"

"I... I don't..." He gave you a peck on the lips.

"Please... Don't leave me."

You swallowed hard at that. He gave your lips another sweet and gentle kiss. "Promise me you'll stay."

It was like he was tugging at your heartstrings while he kissed every part of your face. Your forehead, your eyes, your nose, your cheeks and chin, your lips. It drove you insane.

You gripped his arms and managed to pull back a bit, though you stayed in his arms.

"I don't think I can handle just being a fling..."

"You're not!" Stan assured as he placed his hands on your cheeks and gently made you look at him. "I could never see you as that. You're much more than that. I promise..."

You closed your eyes for a moment. You had not expected Stan to take that opportunity and kiss you softly. "You're the girl I can share my secrets with, the girl I can laugh with, be myself with..."

"Then... choose me, Stan..." You breathed out between kisses as you clung to him and kissed him back. "Break up with Wendy... and be mine only..."

He pressed you up against the wall, raising your leg to wrap around his waist, rubbing his body against yours. You moaned softly against his lips.

Stan broke the kiss for a moment to breathe. "Give me some time, please...? I need... to think..."

You groaned as you pulled off his hat and tangled your fingers through his black hair, gripping him tightly. "Why? You just said..."

He placed his hands on your waist as he pulled away a bit, but was still in your embrace. "Wendy and I have always been... well, together since the 3rd grade. No matter how many times we broke up, we always found our way back together. I may not feel the same way I did years ago but... I do care about her. Please, just give me time."

You sighed. "Besides..." he began again. "If I broke up with her and right away start a relationship with you, it wouldn't go so well." He caressed your cheek.

"I don't want them to hurt you."

You placed your hand over his. You hated this. But he did make a good point there. "You promise that's all?"

He nodded.

"Well... I guess I can wait a bit more," you remarked.

Stan smiled and his lips pressed against yours again. "In the meantime, we'll keep our little secret."

You wanted to say no. You wanted to tell him that first he had to break it off with Wendy.

But you were weak. You needed Stan more than anything. He moved his hands to your butt and picked you up so both your legs were wrapped around him now, as well as your arms wrapped around his neck as the kisses became heavy, leaving you both breathless. "Let's go to my place."

You nodded, not caring at that moment about anything else. "Stan... I love you so much..." You panted in between kisses.

He placed you down and you both shared a couple of more kisses before you were finally able to stay apart long enough to walk out of the building and towards his truck.

The rest of the afternoon you spent it with him. You didn't leave his home until it was late evening.

You opened the door to your house and gently closed it and locked it. You heard noises and walked over to see the TV in the living room on. Luke was sitting on the couch and looked over at you.

"Huh, look who finally decided to show up." You could tell he was upset that you didn't even go to him and your mom in person to tell them you were leaving. Of course you told them you met up with a friend and she had invited you to hang out. Your sweet mother didn't even ask any questions. So trusting. You felt guilty about that.

"Mom! She's home!" he shouted.

Your mother came from the kitchen and said your name. "Sweetie did you see what time it was?"

You nodded. "Sorry. I lost track of time. It won't happen again."

She gave a small smile as she went and gave you a hug and a peck on the cheek. "There's some leftovers in the kitchen if you wanna eat."

You shook your head. "Thanks mom, but I already had something to eat before coming home. But I'll eat it tomorrow. Right now, I just wanna relax before having to go to bed."

"Well, ok. You go ahead." You thanked her and walked to the couch, surprising Luke with a sudden kiss on the head and ran upstairs before he could complain.

You entered your room and slump yourself on your bed as you took out your phone. A smile on rested on your lips as you saw Stan had messaged you already... even though he had dropped you off not long ago.

But something surprised you. Another message. From 'Secret Admirer'.

You couldn't believe it. You sat up as you clicked on the message to read it.

**= Hey =**

Short as always. It was hard to believe that it was possible that this was most likely Kenny... It had to be him...

**= Hey yourself. This is certainly a surprise! :0 =**

You wanted to see what he would say first, so you decided not to ask straight away.

**= Why? =**

**= Why?! I haven't heard from you for some time! :( =**

**= Missed me? =**

Why did you picture him with a cocky smirk on his face when he sent that? Yep, this definitely had to be him. You shook your head and texted back.

**= Nope! Lol No, but seriously, I actually did =**

**= I missed you too =**

You smiled. You decided that you should tell him. You didn't want any more misunderstandings.

**= I'm... Listen, I know who you are... =**

You sent that message. After a couple of seconds you received one back.

**= You do? =**

Better to be straightforward.

**= Yeah... Kenny... =**

You sent it. The waiting was agonizing. It felt like forever until you received his message. You quickly opened it.

**= What makes you think that? =**

You frowned. Not the answer you had expected.

**= Kenny, enough with the games =**

**= Let's say I am. How did you figured it out? =**

Though you hated that he wasn't just admitting it, you decided to humor him and typed.

**= You sorta disappeared, around the same time I... well, you know... the confession? It didn't hit me until recently that... it had to be you... =**

After you sent the message, you waited for his response. It took much longer than usual for him to message back. ' _Is he... thinking about admitting it finally?_ '

A message was sent. You read it.

**= Is that all that comes to mind? =**

' _Why is he just beating around the bush?! I caught him already?!_ ' You thought, slightly annoyed. As you were about to send him a message, you received another one.

**= I'm not him =**

You blinked. You were so sure it had to be him.  **= But then... why did you suddenly stopped messaging? =**

He made you wait for a while again.

**= It won't happen again =**

You tilted you head a bit.

**= This time, I'll be there... =**

You smiled a bit and messaged back.  **= Hey, you make it sound so... dramatic =**

**= You don't believe me? =**

**= I do. Say, so, are we ever gonna meet in person? Doesn't this feel a bit silly? =**

**= Still no idea who I am? =**

You thought for a moment.  **= I swear, if you're Kenny and just tricking me I'm gonna be pissed =**  You weren't really. You just wanted to make sure.

**= Then no worries. But I hope even after you find out, you let me stay by your side =**

You giggled.  **= Of course! We're friends, duh! =**

**= Just know, you won't get rid of me =**

**= I wouldn't want to anyway =**

**= I'm gonna hold you to that =**

**= Hehee, fine, whatever XD =**

You were about to place your phone down when he sent another message.

**= I meant what I said earlier... This time, I'm not gonna leave. This time, I'm gonna be there, even if you try to push me away =**

You arched a brow in confusion. He was acting rather strange today. You decided not to question it further and simply sent him your message.

**= Hehee. I'm gonna hold you to that XP =**

**###**

You were in good spirits on Monday morning. You paid attention in your classes, you answered questions, you offered to read passages.

Yep, it was a rather lovely morning, despite the cold weather returning. You were looking forward to lunch. Everything was back as it should be!

You made your way to your table and smiled at your friends. "Hello, boys!"

"Well, someone's in a good mood," Kyle noted with a smile.

You took a seat beside Stan and gave him a small smile as well. He smiled back, your hand rested on the bench and his hand crept its way to yours for a moment. "Well, the weekend was rather wonderful that I just can't help the good mood I feel today!"

Kenny grinned. "That's good. You look cuter when you're smiling."

You felt Stan gave your hand a squeeze as he held his pizza with his other hand and bit it while he shot an annoyed glare at Kenny for a quick second. You gently pulled you hand from his as you grabbed your soda can and opened it.

As you were about to take a drink, a sudden person appearing made you almost drop your beverage.

"Hey, what's up losers?" Clyde asked as he took a seat beside Kenny, followed by Jimmy. You saw Token took a seat on the other end, beside Stan. "Mind if we sit here? Of course you don't!"

"This... is a surprise," Stan remarked. "I thought you were angry at me because I 'messed up' in the game."

"Meh! Bygones be bygones!" Clyde spoke with a shrug. "Right Craig?"

You tensed up when you heard that name and you felt someone sat on your other side. You didn't look, but it didn't take a genius to know who it was. "Whatever," he replied in his usual monotonous tone.

"So like, the game is coming up shortly and this time we gotta make sure that we're not gonna screw up," Clyde spoke out.

You looked down as the boys began chatting away about football. You enjoyed watching the game... well, you enjoyed watching Stan, but you never really paid attention when they would start getting into it.

From the corner of your eye you saw Stan with his phone out for a moment then he placed it down. You felt your phone vibrate in your pocket. It had to be him. You waited for a moment so it wouldn't look suspicious then took out your phone and read his message.

**= How about we go somewhere more private? ;) =**

Your cheeks heated up at that moment and you sent him a simple 'Yes' as an answer. You grabbed your tray and were standing up. "Hey guys, I gotta go. I gotta return a book to the library."

"Oh wait!" Kyle grabbed his book bag and rummaged through it. He took out a book and handed it to you. "Can you hand this in please? Today's the due date and I had forgotten about it until I saw it again."

"Uhh, sure," you answered as you took the book. You felt bad at the thought of not doing him a favor when he asked so nicely.

Stan stood up as well.

"You going to the library too, Stan?" Kenny asked.

"No, bathroom."

As you two were about to leave, someone else stood up. "Craig where you going?" Token asked.

"I think I'll head to the library as well. Gotta take out some book Tricia asked me to look for," he responded.

He walked along with you guys. You couldn't believe it. The three of you emptied your trays and placed them down before heading out of the cafeteria. The walk was quiet, you were wondering how your and Stan would be able to sneak away.

"There's the bathroom, Marsh," Craig spoke.

You looked to see it was true. "Yeah, I can see it... " Stan spoke. He gave you a look before he headed inside. You had no choice. You had to keep walking.

The walk to the library was quiet and you couldn't find a way to sneak off. So you ended up going inside the room with Craig. You felt your phone vibrate and picked it up.

**= I'm heading towards the other end of the hall, to where it leads to the back of the library. Meet me there =**

You smiled and texted back an 'Ok' before you placed your phone back in your pocket and made your way to the bookshelf that was closest to the back door. You looked around to see nobody was close by, but to your surprise Craig also walked to where you were and stared at the books.

"Are you following me?" You asked, rather annoyed.

He looked at you, his hands in his jacket's pockets and his expression remained the same as usual. "No." One worded answers as always.

You pretended to look around, not paying attention to anything in particular. You received another text and looked.

**= What's taking so long? =**

**= Craig is close by. He'll see me sneak out the back... Just give me a sec =**

You texted back. How long could it take him to pick out a book?

...

Apparently all of lunch period!

You were annoyed that you couldn't spend lunch period with Stan and made your way out of the library. That was strange... But you decided to ignore it. It was just a bad coincidence.

That's what you believed at first.

When you got to your World History class, you were about to take your seat beside Stan, but Craig had taken that seat. You found it strange since he almost always sat at the back. You went to the only other empty seat, which was by Nichole and Token.

"Hey! Nice to see you again!" Nichole greeted you with her friendly smile.

You didn't want to be rude so you smiled back. "Hi."

Class began and you felt your phone vibrate a seconds after. You kept an eye on the teacher as you slipped your phone out, but kept it under your desk. You looked down for a moment to see Stan messaged you.

**= Afterschool? =**

You frowned and texted back.  **= Can't, committee meeting :( =**

He sent a sad emoji face so you texted back.  **= Maybe after that? =**

**= Work =**

You sighed a bit and texted back.  **= Well, we can hang out tomorrow then :) =**

You put away your phone quickly since you heard the teacher called out your name and you looked at her. "Could you go to the utility room and bring me a pack of black markers, please? Oh! While you're at it, bring me an overhead projector please? There should be some spare ones there. Mm, I should probably send someone to help..."

"I'll go."

Your eyes widened as you heard that monotonous tone and saw that Craig had raised his hand. You had also noticed that Stan had his hand slightly up, but looks like Craig had beaten him to it.

"Thank you, Craig. Now, get going!"

You didn't wait for him as you made your way out of the classroom. It didn't took Craig long to catch up to you though.

He was quiet though. You stopped walking but he didn't. "What the hell are you doing?" you questioned.

He stopped and turned to you. "Doing what the teacher asked."

You scowled at him. "You know what I mean."

"Um... afraid not."

You took a few steps closer. "Why did you kept an eye on me at the library, why did you take my seat in class, and why did you offer to help? You never help anyone."

He shrugged.

So that was it? He wasn't even going to answer. You sighed. "Whatever." And walked past him.

It was quiet for a moment again. You both made it to the utility room and immediately you searched for the markers.

"I know you're screwing Marsh..."

You felt your world crashing down on you, your eyes widened in shock, and you felt your mouth suddenly dried up. Your heart paced quickly as you turned to look at the stoic Craig. "W-What are you...? That's crazy..."

"I overheard you guys at the park's center," he admitted. You felt the color leave your face as you recalled the intimate moment between you and Stan yesterday at the computer room. "Then I saw you leave with him... It doesn't take a genius to know what's going on there."

You swallowed the large lump in your throat. You were caught. You couldn't think of what to say. How to explain. You looked away. "Um..."

"Nobody else knows," he assured you.

It took a moment for you to be able to speak what you had in mind. "So... what? You going to blackmail me?"

He narrowed his eyes, but didn't respond. You turned away and grabbed the pack of black markers that could be used on the overhead projector.

"He's not gonna leave her," he spoke. You looked at him. "He's never gonna leave Wendy. Not for you, not for anybody."

"What do you know?" You were feeling defensive. How dare he even pretend like he cared or knew what Stan was thinking.

He moved closer to you. "I know what I see. Stan's too dependent on her. No matter what happens, they always find themselves back to each other. I'm sure you've noticed."

You looked down. It was true that always happened, but... this time was different! Stan had no reason to crawl back to her. Not when he had you.

You looked up at Craig. "I... I needed you once in my life and you pushed me aside. So don't pretend you even care about what happens to me." You pushed past him, but stopped by the door, you turned a bit, a serious expression on your face. "Stay the fuck out of my business, Tucker..."

With that said, you made your way out of the room. You didn't care if he was right behind you or not. You just wanted to get back to the classroom and hope this day would end soon. You couldn't help but think not just about Stan, but of Wendy too. That made you frown again as you wrapped your arms around yourself and began walking again. One thing you did know for sure at that moment.

**If Wendy finds out and wants war, then she better prepare to lose...**

 


End file.
